my midwife said they don't do mobile epidurals at the hospital but they can turn it down when it comes to pushing. im the same with most forms of pain relief though, like migranes, i tend to use none drug methods first as i want to control what is happening and once a drug kicks in i feel i lose that. i always have done, even since i was young. i have been practicing lots of self soothing techniques including my birthing ball, breathing and mindfulness and when i've been in any pain (such as the horrendous blood tests and when the mw presses my tummy hard) i've been practicing soothing myself with words, it seems to work quite well so far.
I definitely wont rule out an epidural but it will be last on my list of options as its the most final and large thing to do i think.
I would only have my mum as an emergency as me and my hubby are really wanting to do this just us, we've had a lot of interference/ advice etc etc from families (although my mum has been fab) and we really want this to be the start of us three, not an extension of our families. It makes more sense if i explained properly but its not really relevant.
I think with the internals i might be ok if they tell me exactly what will happen beforehand, like how long they'll be there, what she will do, if it will cause pain (honestly) and if i tell her to stop then she has to stop. I guess this is what i need to discuss with my midwife though.
matt and i were the same re doing it alone. as for epidurals generally they give you 2 doses, 15-30mins apart then it kicks in, then you usually have a top up button to press when the pain comes back - so you are in control of it, when it comes to pushing you can choose to let it wear off and will probably be advised to let it wear off at least a little bit to help guard against tearing, i was so numb crowning didn't happen - it was more like one of those person in a cannon stunts with major tearing i needed like 16 stitches.
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
we use bp machines on the ward, i don't think i have ever taken a manual bp since i qualified(im a nurse not a midwife tho) maybe midwifes do it more often than we do, but i think the machines are pretty accurate, and if i get what looks like a strange reading i will check the bp again to make sure its a true reading, if the midwife with the machine gets a strange reading i would ask her to double check it
like you Sam, i kept saying i didnt want any pain relief, and certainly not an epidural, and people laughed at me too and said just wait, well we had the birthing pool and i only used gas and air, but tbh i just wanted something to bite and think i could have done it just with the mouth peice to bite on.
no one mentioned my scars, it was not an issue, and i have some nasty ones on my legs, its not really relevant
we didn't make a birth plan, no one we knew got the birth they wanted, so Tom and I discussed our preferences, we did however get a perfect birth that would have been our plan had we written one!, by the time we got to the labour suite i was in alot of pain, and would have taken wahtever was going, and Tom kept his cool and asked for the birthing pool, and it was amazing, i had constant back pain and as soon as i got in the warm water it soothed it and the pain only came with the contractions.
We use the manual mercury blood pressure gauge for anyone with high BP, at risk of high BP or pre eclampsia or if we get a funny reading on the machine. It is more accurate.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
There are only two ways in which one can live their life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.
ok my midwife friend says the machines are just inaccurate due to being digital, they are harder to calibrate than manual ones, they use manual ones in pregnancy because they are not just monitoring an up or down reading they are looking for the actual figures and what they represent as well as if it's high or low, also when it's high (in cases of pre eclampsia) they are looking often for tiny improvements to start with, which the digital ones do not pick up on - hope that helps!
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
I keep getting pretty bad cramping like period pains. Is it safe to put a heat pack/ hot water bottle on my back or lower tummy? I know IRS just his head getting more engaged and stuff but it's just like a niggly constant thing. Baths help but I can't sit in a bath all day!! It runs right into my groin. Don't fancy having this for the next 4 weeks!!
Mrs Sam, i hope you feel abit better with the pain, sorry i have no advice
thanks for letting me know about the difference between manual and automatic bp machines, its interesting.
i had what i think was a show last night, but its not as much as i imagined it would be only a tiny amount of pink in my knickers but i got abit worried as i found it in the middle of the night and it wasnt very mucousy and then this morning the baby wasnt moving, so i went to the MAU and they said not to worry about the bit of blood (or whatever it was) and said the baby was happy and moving, which made me feel like a bit of a fool with them being so busy and everything. but they did my bp profile again and took more bloods and i have to go back on thursday or friday. its just abit annoying having to wait for so long to be seen (its a walk in unit) for only a 20 minute monitoring.
your show would be mucousy, like stringy egg white consistency, it has to be thick enough to 'plug' the neck of the womb, it helps stop infection getting in, with chloe my waters broke and washed the plug down, it was stuck there for me to wipe away even with the waters having gone, with ella i lost my plug and felt it coz i was awake and it felt like a bubble popping, and within an hour i was in the unit waters about to go.
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
Yes it's safe to use a hot water bottle or wheat bag on your back or tummy. Just don't burn yourself, obviously!
It's quite common to get bits of blood or mucous late in pregnancy, I think it if was a show you'd definitely know, it would be a decent sized amount. Sometimes you can get little bits when your cervix starts to soften etc in late pregnancy. However, if you ever have actual blood or active bleeding, call your midwife straight away.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
There are only two ways in which one can live their life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.
oh yeah to all you first timers, i remember being really freaked out by Chloe not crying and being blue - not crying from cord not being cut - normal not to cry until they are detatched and blue from cold not oxygen starved.
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
ty do you like the hair-sprayed to within an inch of her life fringe?? lol their hair was all broken ends sticking up so i combed some hairspray thorugh to make it lie flat, and ellas fringe wouldn't stay put with her hairband so that got a blast too lol!
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
Mand she looks very cute! My sister used to use this childs gel stuff on my nephews hair which kinda just went on like water but held well. Don't know the name though.
I'm now officially on maternity leave! Been a bit of a rubbish start as I've had a nasty upper abdo pain since yesterday which I can only get rid of when I lie on my side. However I'm out tonight so no lying down for me! Birthing ball is helping a little though. I'm wondering if he's moved back up out of my pelvis a bit as the heartburn has come back too.
We have the HV coming to the house on Monday. Does anyone know what they'll do? Is it just like s home check?
my health vistior just came to see me a few weeks ago to just say hi and get abit about my background before the baby is born, they will probably visit once the baby is born but im not really sure what they do.
this sounds stupid but can you get postnatal depression before you give birth? ive been having a very difficult few weeks and my feelings towards this baby are getting worse and worse. i feel totally detacthed from him and i just dont want him! i feel awful for saying that because i know so many people cant have children and i worry peoples reactions will be really bad because what kind of person doesnt want there own child? sorry.
it could be your subconscious reactions to anxiety/nerves about the birth, also you get a sense of its really happening, no going back - its not in months its NOW, also hormones will be gearing up, i bet you're not sleeping or eating very well either because of baby's stomach trampolining sessions.
and no idea about HV ours only came after the midwives had discharged us well same day actually they turned up together, the midwife discharged us and then HV took over.
Mand, South Wales, Full-time working, single mother to 2 scarily independent girls.
I AM A PROUD PLUMERIA SISTER
They're not blue from cold, they're purple from lower oxygen concentration in their systerm overall because their oxygentated and deoxygenated blood is circulating together since the placenta is doing the oxygentating not the lungs. But yes, this is a normal colour. They shouldn't be grey/white but blue/purple is normal until they get their breathing going when they turn pink.
Crying is very variable. Some start once the head is out before the body is born. Water birthed babies often are the ones that don't cry as much at birth, I've noticed.
Last edited by effervescence : 16-10-2011 at 12:49 AM.
Reason: adding
Even as the stone of the fruit must break
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
There are only two ways in which one can live their life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.
Health visitor has been. She was a retired one who just does home visits. She was nice. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know but was good to meet them.
Did my birth plan yesterday which was bit disappointing. She just wanted to get through it as quickly as possible so I didn't really input stuff which was odd. I see her Tuesday so might get to speak to her more then about it.
I've also picked up a stupid cold which is stupid! Haha.
Did my birth plan yesterday which was bit disappointing. She just wanted to get through it as quickly as possible so I didn't really input stuff which was odd. I see her Tuesday so might get to speak to her more then about it.
That sounds a bit crap, to be honest. Hope you get to talk about it more.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
There are only two ways in which one can live their life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.
i feel awful for saying that because i know so many people cant have children and i worry peoples reactions will be really bad because what kind of person doesnt want there own child? 
