FTM Questions for S+TMs: February

missnc77

@cford08 No one warns you about them! When my OB was like okay, I’m going to check you, I was like cool. Then she did, and I yelled with pain and had to take a moment when she was done. Totally not expected! When I went to the hospital in labor, my husband walked into the triage room as they were checking me, and I was yelling. He thought I was giving birth right then and there.

Edit: Oh, also post birth, you get uterine massages. Sounds lovely, but a whole ‘nother world of pain while they try to clean out your uterus and get it to contract back down. Not looking forward to those again either. 

muggle621

I've been lucky with the cervical checks; I guess my OB has tiny hands!! 
If we do a vaginal I am DREADING the uterine massages. I hope my placenta just flies out easily. 

Gingermom15

muggle621 said:

I've been lucky with the cervical checks; I guess my OB has tiny hands!! 
If we do a vaginal I am DREADING the uterine massages. I hope my placenta just flies out easily. 

Oh, but the massages continue way after the placenta comes out and with cs deliveries, too. Such an unavoidable joy! 

crossfitbabybump

muggle621 said:

I've been lucky with the cervical checks; I guess my OB has tiny hands!! 
If we do a vaginal I am DREADING the uterine massages. I hope my placenta just flies out easily. 

@muggle621 - what the hell is a uterine massage??

becausescience

@crossfitbabybump "Massage" is putting it nicely. 

"Fundal massage, also called uterine massage, is a technique used to reduce bleeding and cramping of the uterus after childbirth or [ ]. As the uterus returns to its nonpregnant size, its muscles contract strongly, which can cause pain."

Also TTM+, I've heard the pp cramping gets worse each pregnancy... True?

ShawnnaO

My nurses always let me do my own uterine messages! They still hurt like hell, but I least I was the one causing the pain and not someone else 

crossfitbabybump

Ummm.. ouch? Is this done DIRECTLY after giving birth or days following??

GG620

what the whatttt on this uterine massage business. No one tells you this stuff! Is it directly after? Like baby is laying on your chest and you are about to scream in pain from them pressing on your uterus??

StephBrim24

@becausescience - it does seem to be true that the pp cramping gets worse with each pregnancy. I didn’t really notice it with my first and then I definitely had some wincing pain with my second. My mom had 4 kids and she said they got worse with hers as well. 

@crossfitbabybump - they do the massage directly after delivery to make sure the uterus starts contracting back down to size immediately, therefore preventing bleeding problems from coming up. 

megpeg

They do them every once in a while for a few hours to make sure the uterus is shrinking the way it should.

stardustskies

Ladies.. help. 

I just got done with my 34 week appointment and ultrasound. He is measuring at 6.5lbs and 89th percentile. My doc seemed concerned and wants me to take the 1 hour glucose test again. If my glucose comes back normal, is his size something I should be worried about? Am I higher risk for c section now? Will they want to induce me early? This is like the last thing I was expecting to hear. I don't really FEEL like he is that big, although I have gained 40lbs.

becausescience

@sarahhedger7 Take late ultrasounds with a grain of salt, they can be a pound+ off. They estimate the babies gain a half pound a week, so with 6 weeks to go you'd be looking at 9.5ish lbs (which isn't huge for a full term baby).

(My DD was estimated to be around 8.5-9 lbs at birth from a late ultrasound and she came out 7lbs5oz at 41 weeks. Is you or your SO tall? I think DD being in the 90th+ percentile for height caused her weight estimate to be high.)

Gingermom15

Also, be warned if you’re bleeding a lot they will likely do them every 15 minutes until it slows. I was not aware of this when my son was born and I bled really bad, those damn nurses came in every 15 minutes every couple of hours before they started spacing them out. Not a lot of fun especially with a cs, but I had some good drugs to make it manageable lol

Gingermom15

After the bleeding was under control it eventually went to every 4 hours, then like twice a shift by the second day

megpeg

@sarahhedger7 they can be way off. They induced me early with my first one because they said he weighed at least 9lbs and he was only 7lbs 4oz.

StephBrim24

@sarahhedger7 - I’m with @becausescience. Those ultrasounds can be so far off. And your baby still wouldn’t be a record breaker. Don’t let it make you panic at all. 

stardustskies

Thanks guys, I do feel a little better now. 

muggle621

@Gingermom15 They do them with a section too?! Man they didn't tell us that at our childbirth class! Shit. They just talked about vaginal and straight up said "Yeah it hurts."      I'm glad we FTM's have y'all so we are warned accordingly! 

@sarahhedger7  He wants you to retake the GD test based on that?! What good would treating it do this late anyway? 
Mine measued 6lbs 2oz last week at 34 +3 and he was in the 69th percentile (which makes me wonder where they get the data for percentiles).  My dr seemed way unconcerned, but he's also met my 6'3" husband.  He told me the u/s my hospital uses are only half a pound off and I will be interested to see if there is any truth to that. 
I don't think it's anything to worry about, and I find it odd your doctor reacted like that but who knows. 

stardustskies

@muggle621 MH and I both are 5'8 so not incredibly tall. In the US you can see how chubby his cheeks are but.. yeah, she told me to go to the lab tomorrow to re-do it. Pretty sure I don't have GD though but I'll do what the doc says. 

cford08

Like @muggle621 I wonder what the doc would do this late in the game anyway @sarahhedger7? Maybe just peace of mind why LO is maybe measuring bigger....

cford08

I was aware of the fundal massage....even gave a few back in the day in school. But uh, them cervical checks must have gotten blanked out. I don't remember the couple of births I attended having the laboring lady about to smack anyone 

Gingermom15

@muggle621 yes, ma’am. There is no getting out of them. They’re done to make sure the uterus is emptying properly and returning to normal size. It also helps prevent hemorrhage if the uterus isn’t contracting like it should and becomes soft and boggy and full. Just one of those necessary evils that comes with the territory. But it won’t seem so bad by the time the baby is a few months old, which I think is a human race survival technique 

missnc77

@becausescience I love that you mentioned height. DD1 measured big, but she came out 7lbs7oz. I had my 36 week appointment today, and she said this baby is measuring 7 pounds. I didn't stress though after what happened with DD1. I did read something about a baby being long can throw off measurements, and my husband is 6'4. DD1 is in the 90+% for height right now. She is just a tall girl.

Also laughing at the uterine massage conversation. Glad I could bring that up for everyone on things to look forward to. For me, they did it several times - I remember my epidural had well worn off for a couple of those massages. The best part was when the nurse returned to check on me, she was leaving the room without giving me a massage. My husband, without thinking, mentioned she didn't do a massage on me. I was like REALLY, HUSBAND?! The nurse looked at me and asked if I wanted one. I was like no, no thanks. All good over here.

vflux33

@sarahhedger7 My sister had GD and they estimated her son was 8-9 pounds toward the end but he came out 6.5 pounds (his dad is abnormally tall, and he's now tall for his age). Hope you pass the re-test!

Any STM have any stories involving a pre-eclampsia diagnosis with happy endings? Just got my diagnosis this morning. Was expecting gestational hypertension, but no... not severe as of now, thankfully. I know it's more common for twins but between this and the IUGR I'm feeling a bit scared and distraught and would love to hear some "it wasn't that bad!"/ "everything turned out fine!" stories. 

crossfitbabybump

@vflux33 - FTM here but thinking of you and prayers that all goes well!

fatstagnation

cford08  Probably your cervix is more sensitive (maybe from the circlage). I know mine is just naturally. The pap smear jab hurts me!  I won't refuse all checks, of course, but "a watched pot never boils" is a  perfect saying for this situation. 
I have heard of the uterine "massages, " and been told their awful, and been told you can deny that too (technically you can deny any treatment you want to) but I mean, if the help the bleeding stop sooner, seems like at least there's some benefit? 

@vflux33 You're so close! I'm a FTM, but I confident you can still have healthy babies! they'll probably monitor you even more with pre-e...

Gingermom15

FWIW I would l not ever refuse the fundal massages. If anything, have your nurse show you how to do them and what to feel for and have her watch you do them. They are one of the first indicators that you are not expelling products from the uterus or are going to hemorrhage. They suck, but they are very necessary 

Gingermom15

@vflux33 I had pre e and my son was iugr. It’s a scary diagnoses, but after he was out everything was pretty smooth sailing besides the jaundice and the difficulty latching for the first few days. It will all be ok 

vflux33

@crossfitbabybump @fatstagnation Thanks 

@Gingermom15 That makes me feel so much better, thank you! I'm trying really hard not to panic right now and that is so good to hear. 

DDRRT1982

@cford08 cervical checks can be more painful with a friable cervix, but I don't think each cervical checks was always the same for me.  Some hurt and some didn't.

@becausescience with each pregnancy the post uterine contractions have definitely increased in intensity.  I have to be very careful to stay on top of my meds post birth or it can get pretty intense.

@sarahhedger7 everyone pretty much said everything about weight estimates being off, but also remember it is possible to birth a large baby too.  Even if you do have a nine pound baby your body will more than likely know what to do.  I also don't know what GD diagnosis this late in the game would do, but I am not a doctor.

bravoandprosecco

@sarahhedger7 with my first they told me he would be 9.5 and he was 8.3!

cford08

@vflux33   to you, I'm hoping you and the babes sail through all this smoothly. 

sassypants2010

I wouldn't refuse the massages because though painful they are super good for slowing bleeding. Hoping I don't have the severe bleeding this time like I did with my second, 36 hours on pitocin with only 5 of those being before baby was delivered sucked monkey balls. 

StephBrim24

@cford08 - i think the pain of cervical checks is so different from the pain of contractions and and birth. Cervical checks don’t feel like productive work. And the pain in the checks is isolated pain. Contractions feel productive, you generally work up to the intense/painful ones so they don’t catch you off guard right away... I don’t think you should throw in the towel on a med-free birth. No worries!

paigew123

curious- anyone knows what happens if you go into labor before strep b test? 

baybeesunflower

@paigew123 I would imagine they would swab you right when you got admitted to find out if you were positive. 

ashtuesday

@paigew123 - I went into labor before my GBS was done - they just pumped me full of antibiotics as a precaution.

crossfitbabybump

Any moms out here use the Owlet Baby Monitor? I just bought it because I'm paranoid. Also, when I was in the hospital this past weekend, baby's heart rate kept dropping to around 95-100 when she usually hangs out in the 140's. The nurses kept waking me up to move me around and make me drink juice to get her heart rate back up. So now I'm even more paranoid. I'm sure it's worth the investment!

missnc77

@crossfitbabybump I bought one for DD1. We moved her into her own room around 2 months, and we tried it then. I read some things online about the readings not being very accurate, but we still tried it. The biggest problem for us was that she’d kick the sock off while sleeping (she moved around a lot, even swaddled). When this happened, the monitor in our room would sound the alarm. My husband would startle awake and go on auto pilot, and he’d run into her room, where she was sleeping just fine...except for the fact in his panic he’d wake her up accidentally. After two nights of this, we both agreed that it caused way more stress and anxiety than relieved it. So, hundreds of dollars just sitting and collecting dust, and we have no intention of using it on #2. I did read on another forum that they have since changed how the alarms work on the newer version, but I’m not going to buy that crap again. 

becausescience

@crossfitbabybump We have a Snuza. I chose it because I'd read the Owlet was easily kicked off and the Angelcare one had false alarms when baby went off the little pad. The Snuza worked great until she started rolling onto her belly to sleep ~ 5 months. So it gave me peace of mind during those early months. We'll use it again for sure.

(Try not to worry about the in utero heart rate, DDs dropped during labor too - it has a lot to do with positioning.)