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giving birth
Jun. 19th, 2006 02:39 pmWell, it's on my mind a lot lately; funny, that. mr. flea called Olivia, the doula we had with Casper and really didn't need, as my mother was unexpectedly in town and was also unexpectedly a great help in labor and delivery instead of a pain in the ass. Unfortunately for us, Olivia is pregnant and due July 22, 2 days after me - with her 4th child, and her next-youngest is now about 6. mr. flea had a lovely half-hour talk with her anyway, which reassured him, and got some other numbers from her, but we haven't called any of them yet.
I am neurotically worried that the armadillo will be born substantially early. This is based on no actual physical evidence - I haven't had any checks for dilation or anything, I have some killer Braxton-Hicks contractions but nothing like labor patterns. Ultimately it is based, I think, on a combination of wishful thinking (work = boring me, body = big and tired) and what would screw up all best-laid plans the most. Now that I have expressed this worry I am guaranteed to be posting six weeks hence grumbling about the pressure I'm being put to to induce since the baby is so late, and how hot it is to be pregnant in August AGAIN, etc.
We haven't yet had any serious conversations with my Ob/Gyn practice about labor and delivery, birth plans, etc. This week's appointment (Thursday) is the time to bring it up, but I wonder if it's even worthwhile. I've met only 3 of the practice's 6 doctors, and almost all of my appointments have been rotuine to the point of drive-bys. Plus weekend call is shared with another practice. My L&D nurse friend jokes that I need to just be sure to deliver on her nights (overnight Thurs, Sat and Sun), and for choice Thursday evening, as the nurse-midwife who delivered Casper, who now works as an L&D nurse, is on duty with her from 7-11pm. Peggy says they'll take care of me.
I am worried that I had such a straightforward experience delivering Casper that I've hexed myself and something catastrophic, or at least deeply annoying, will happen this time. I know that's not statistically likely - Dillo is head-down so far, and second labors are statistically shorter by 1/2 and easier than first ones. But of course anything can happen.
With Casper, my water broke at midnight; I started serious labor by 4:30 am; we went to the hospital at about 7:30 by which point I was 7 cm dilated; was ready to push by 1pm after a stubborn cervical lip. Things got as complicated as they got at that point. I had trouble pushing, partly because I couldn't figure it out, and partly because of weak contractions due to dehydration from vomiting. I eventually got an IV of fluids, which helped. Casper was also in a funny position - or rather, what was funny was she wouldn't stay in one position, and her head was rotating even after she'd crowned. The combination of her having the hardest head ever (3 hours pushing and to see her photos you'd think she was a c-section, no head deformation at all), and me having the world's least stretchy perineum, meant an episiotomy, which finally ended the whole pushing thing I was getting so tried of. She was born at 3:50pm and despite being very purple at first was in the classic post-birth awake/aware state (my god she looked wise) for several hours. I had no pain meds for me (during or after) except a local anesthetic for the episiotomy, and had only doppler monitoring, was free to move about as I wanted, etc.
With Dillo I'd like the same set-up; the odds are labor will be closer to 8 hours total, which would mean less throwing up, less dehydration, and easier pushing. But you never know.
And first we need to decide if we want a doula. And I do need to bother to bring the whole "I'd like to have another unmedicated-as-possible birth" thing up with the Ob-Gyn.
I am neurotically worried that the armadillo will be born substantially early. This is based on no actual physical evidence - I haven't had any checks for dilation or anything, I have some killer Braxton-Hicks contractions but nothing like labor patterns. Ultimately it is based, I think, on a combination of wishful thinking (work = boring me, body = big and tired) and what would screw up all best-laid plans the most. Now that I have expressed this worry I am guaranteed to be posting six weeks hence grumbling about the pressure I'm being put to to induce since the baby is so late, and how hot it is to be pregnant in August AGAIN, etc.
We haven't yet had any serious conversations with my Ob/Gyn practice about labor and delivery, birth plans, etc. This week's appointment (Thursday) is the time to bring it up, but I wonder if it's even worthwhile. I've met only 3 of the practice's 6 doctors, and almost all of my appointments have been rotuine to the point of drive-bys. Plus weekend call is shared with another practice. My L&D nurse friend jokes that I need to just be sure to deliver on her nights (overnight Thurs, Sat and Sun), and for choice Thursday evening, as the nurse-midwife who delivered Casper, who now works as an L&D nurse, is on duty with her from 7-11pm. Peggy says they'll take care of me.
I am worried that I had such a straightforward experience delivering Casper that I've hexed myself and something catastrophic, or at least deeply annoying, will happen this time. I know that's not statistically likely - Dillo is head-down so far, and second labors are statistically shorter by 1/2 and easier than first ones. But of course anything can happen.
With Casper, my water broke at midnight; I started serious labor by 4:30 am; we went to the hospital at about 7:30 by which point I was 7 cm dilated; was ready to push by 1pm after a stubborn cervical lip. Things got as complicated as they got at that point. I had trouble pushing, partly because I couldn't figure it out, and partly because of weak contractions due to dehydration from vomiting. I eventually got an IV of fluids, which helped. Casper was also in a funny position - or rather, what was funny was she wouldn't stay in one position, and her head was rotating even after she'd crowned. The combination of her having the hardest head ever (3 hours pushing and to see her photos you'd think she was a c-section, no head deformation at all), and me having the world's least stretchy perineum, meant an episiotomy, which finally ended the whole pushing thing I was getting so tried of. She was born at 3:50pm and despite being very purple at first was in the classic post-birth awake/aware state (my god she looked wise) for several hours. I had no pain meds for me (during or after) except a local anesthetic for the episiotomy, and had only doppler monitoring, was free to move about as I wanted, etc.
With Dillo I'd like the same set-up; the odds are labor will be closer to 8 hours total, which would mean less throwing up, less dehydration, and easier pushing. But you never know.
And first we need to decide if we want a doula. And I do need to bother to bring the whole "I'd like to have another unmedicated-as-possible birth" thing up with the Ob-Gyn.
