homebirth/birthcenter/unmedicated birth- January

cmill828

Starting a new thread for the new year!

cmill828

We're getting close, mamas! Do you have a plan to help prep your cervix? (miles circuit, red raspberry leaf tea, dates, etc) When is everyone thinking of starting? My doula told me I could start eating dates now. I ate 2 yesterday and it spiked my blood sugar, so I think that's out for me Curious to hear your plans!

cioccolata16

@cmill828 I've been eating dates with peanut butter as a snack for most of my pregnancy, haha. But might up my intake (since I don't have GD). Just added some raspberry leaf tea to an order (as well as some Depends, haha). My colleague swore by acupuncture, but I'm a bit hesitant, since I've never done it before. Also doing lots of yoga squats and sitting on a ball to relax the pelvic floor muscles. I did read a study that showed 40 minutes of walking 3x per week significantly (and positively) impacted labour outcomes, so trying to keep up with my walks even though breathing is a challenge.

hedgepig

Something I did in previous pregnancies was to try and get at least 100 squats a day - I would do 20 squats everytime I went to the bathroom, and I think that helped!

alexxajams

Well I got to find out baby is officially head down and staying that way because of my uterus!! Sooooo I have to actually push him out and come to terms with that 🥴😬🤯😂 
so give me all your natural labor tips! Please and tell me how your husband supported you lol.. I’ve been doing barre and yoga since Sept. and walking a couple times a week and now looking for a yoga ball as well. Dr also let me know that they strongly (basically) push for epidurals as a vbac candidate, but I wouldn’t be forced. I want to try the nateual
way first, so any and all advice welcome.. also what did y’all use PP as vaginal births ? 

Thank you 😂💓

hedgepig

Has anyone collected colostrum or talked to their providers about it?

cioccolata16

My doctor actually asked me if I planned to, and said I could start trying at 36 weeks (but I’ve held off this week because of the tests for baby). Seems to be recommended here, so I have some little syringes I’ll try to fill and freeze over the next few weeks. We’ll see if i have any luck!

@alexxajams yoga balls are the best! Also, I recommend pregnancy and postpartum tv for some positioning that will feel familiar if you’ve been doing yoga. She also has a guide for positions at different stages of labour. For PP, the only thing I’ve done is make some padsicles. A little worried about the first couple of weeks of recovery!

cmill828

@alexxajams Can you get your husband to read The Birth Partner? We're doing Bradley Method classes, and I've seen a huge jump in enthusiasm from my husband now that he understands how everything will work and helpful things he can actually do in labor to help me. Some exercises I've been doing that my doula recommended are kegels, reverse kegels (basically child's pose with deep breathing into your pelvis, squats and butterfly stretches.) And I love my yoga ball more than anything.

@hedgepig- I plan to, but haven't seen any signs of it coming in yet. 

hedgepig

@alexxajams I second @cmill828 suggestion about the Birth Partner - it's so helpful for birthing person and partner. I also recommend listening to the Birth Hour podcast for inspiration and empowerment!

@cioccolata16 Where did you get the syringes? Did your provider supply them or did you guy them? Did they have recommendations about when to start?

cioccolata16

Just ordered them off Amazon. Was contemplating getting the haaka silicone ones, but went with 3ml plastic ones, because there were more, less expensive, and I’m not sure how successful I’ll be anyway!! Like @cmill828 I haven’t seen any indication of colostrum coming in. But my provider said it’s fine to start between 36 and 37 weeks, though later is also fine

farm_mama

hedgepig said:

Has anyone collected colostrum or talked to their providers about it?

What is the rational? Just to have more when the baby is born?

farm_mama

@alexxajams great news! 

hedgepig

@farm_mama I think it's recommended more for babies who might need some extra care or need NICU time - premature or gestational diabetes, to help have something to give baby while mom's milk comes in, or when BFing might be harder? I'm thinking about it just in case babies come early and have a hard time latching or whatnot. 
That said I asked my MW today and she was like 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

ceclarlinetlo

So I’m not having an unmediated birth of course with the C section, but for the 1st time moms who want to try unmediated I wanted to share something that caught me off guard when I was in labor with my first. My labor contractions didn’t hurt the way I expected them too at all and I didn’t know how to handle that. I chose an epidural after 3 hours of contractions only got me from a 5 to a 6. Granted I was on Pitocin so that is different than nonaugmented labor, but I think it’s helpful to know that you can feel contractions in different places so you aren’t taken aback like I was. Everyone always said they would hurt like menstrual cramps just much much more intense - and that was not true at all for me. My menstrual cramps hurt mostly in my lower back, but my labor contractions hurt across my pelvis bone and in my thighs. 

alexxajams

 ceclarlinetlo I fully expect the contractions to be like so so bad… I’m mentally preparing myself now and trying to also prepare for the fact that I absolutely will be having back labor on top of that 🥴 I did some homework on it, but didn’t do too much cause I was also preparing for baby to be transverse this time 

halfanewt

So I’ll speak to the low prep side - didn’t do a ton of prep other than staying active. Ended up with back labor with my first which was unpleasant, but not not doable, if that makes sense? Was unmedicated with both, and plan to do that again. I do have a decent pain tolerance, and it wasn’t until the last few pushes that it really got painful. No one appreciated my joke about asking for an epidural that late in the game, though. 

hedgepig

Maybe once we make our move to FB we could make a thread for sharing previous birth stories? I 💜 hearing birth stories, and I bet we have a lovely range of diverse experiences in this group!

night_nurse

@cmill828 things I did to help with cervical ripening my 2nd baby I went unmedicated for:

- 6 dates daily (but sounds like this might be out for you.)
- red raspberry leaf tea daily, i would cold brew it in the fridge overnight and drink 2 glasses a day.
- Evening Primrose Oil vaginal suppositories at night starting at 38 weeks. Earlier if you know you’ll be induced before your EDD. There is actual evidence this shortens the first stage of labor (taken orally has no affect though). 
- Expressed colostrum starting at 37 weeks and would freeze it in sterile syringes. Great to bring with you to the hospital in case baby has blood sugar issues after birth. You can give it to them rather than formula.

Something I’m adding this time is Gentle Birth herbal supplement, the formula without Blue Cohash, starting around 35 weeks.

night_nurse

alexxajams said:

so give me all your natural labor tips! Please and tell me how your husband supported you lol.. also what did y’all use PP as vaginal births ? 

Thank you 😂💓

@alexxajams

My 2nd was born during a covid wave so I could only have 1 person labor with me. We joke that I trained my husband to be a doula. Biggest piece of advice is to make he is completely clear on what you do and dont want and feels comfortable stepping in and saying “no” or “stop” or “why” if something is going down and you’re unable to advocate for yourself. 

My husband liked feeling like he had a defined role. Specifically he was in charge of distributing our birth plan, hip squeezes EVERY contraction, gatekeeping the room and making sure things stayed as calm and quiet as possible, and taking pictures during the actual birth/immediately after. 

We took a Hypnobirthing course before our 2nd was born and that helped us cover a number of topics together so we were on the same page. I think it helped him to have the “why” behind some of the decisions and to learn how it supported physiologic birth so that he felt more confident if he needed to intervene and advocate for us.

night_nurse

hedgepig said:

Has anyone collected colostrum or talked to their providers about it?

I started around 37 weeks with my 2nd. Barely any comes out at first. Getting comfortable with how to hand express can take some time, it isnt necessarily just a squeezing motion. But if you’ve breastfed before then you probably know the motion. 

I would actually express into my silverettes or a clean medicine cup and then pull it up into little 1ml sterile syringes I got off amazon. Then froze them. 

I would get about 2ml every day with 10-15mins of hand expressing. Surprisingly the day before I had my daughter I randomly expressed 6ml and looking back that may have been the first sign of imminent labor.

I definitely see the benefit for anyone with GD or an expected earlier delivery as it can be given in place of formula if baby has any blood sugar issues after birth.

ETA: also great to have if baby shows signs of jaundice as it is a natural laxative and will help initiate more BMs to clear the bilirubin. 

alexxajams

 halfanewt I plan to have a playlist of some very on the nose songs to get me through laboring 😂 

farm_mama

alexxajams said:

 ceclarlinetlo I fully expect the contractions to be like so so bad… I’m mentally preparing myself now and trying to also prepare for the fact that I absolutely will be having back labor on top of that 🥴 I did some homework on it, but didn’t do too much cause I was also preparing for baby to be transverse this time 

Contractions are absolutely intense. But it really helps (me anyway!) to focus on relaxing through them and think about what they are doing! It isn't the same kind of pain because they serve a very different and important purpose in the body.

night_nurse

Anyone planning on starting perineal massage soon. I did it probably once or twice a week in the shower before my 2nd and, either coincidentally or not, only had a tiny tear after delivering her. Recovery was night and day different than with my first.

My body is larger this pregnancy and thinking I may need to get one of the wands they sell to help you reach around your belly so I can do it more effectively 😆

farm_mama

@night_nurse Does giving baby preepressed colostrum lessen time on the nipple after birth extending time for milk to come in and/or changing supply at all? Real question (no snark!)

cioccolata16

@night_nurse I started perineal massage in week 35, though I’m not sure I’m doing it 100% right. Trying for two times per week. The evidence that exists shows it’s most beneficial for first time moms, but it sounds like it helped with your second, so there are probably exceptions. https://evidencebasedbirth.com/the-evidence-on-prenatal-perineal-massage-for-preventing-tears-in-childbirth-with-dr-rebecca-dekker/

night_nurse

farm_mama said:

@night_nurse Does giving baby preepressed colostrum lessen time on the nipple after birth extending time for milk to come in and/or changing supply at all? Real question (no snark!)

Totally can. I didn't end up giving it to my baby in the hospital as we didn't need it. But in the event they wanted to give formula for low blood sugar or were threatening to keep us longer for elevated bili I was prepared to give it to her and would have hand expressed or used the manual pump to stimulate some production in replace of it. Nursing frequently would have provided the same amount of colostrum to baby but I think for hospital staff they want a measurable amount of intake in those cases.

I actually ended up giving her syringes of it through her first birthday if we were coming down with something or knew we were exposed to illness. Gave some to the toddler too on those occasions.

I havent decided whether or not i’ll collect some this time as im doing a home birth. Maybe a few syringes in the unlikely case we get transferred. Since my 1yo is still nursing around the clock I could easily express one or two OUNCES right now. Shot it across the room the other day. At this gestation with my 2nd I could barely get a drop out.

cmill828

@night_nurse I plan to start perineal massage around 35 weeks, I'm not sure I can reach mine anymore, so I've already let my husband know he'll have a new job lol

hedgepig

@cmill828 I recruit MH to help too!

kmw611

I feel like a new mom to be reading all the things you ladies are doing/plan to do to prep! I usually add red raspberry leaf tea and dates at this point but I’ll have to skip the dates I think due to the gd. Interested in adding EPO suppository this time. I had a cervical lip with DS2 and could not get him past it. Maybe some cervical prep could help avoid that this time. 

cmill828

So for doing EPO suppositories- can I just use regular supplements and just shove em up there? Or do I need a special kind? I searched EPO vaginal suppositories on amazon and it just showed me regular gel capsules. Does anyone have a reccomended brand?

night_nurse

@cmill828 I got the oral ones that had EPO oil in a glycerin capsule. Put 2 in at bedtime and wore a thin pad in case of leakage but never experienced that. By the time I woke up to pee a few hours later they were all dissolved.

pocketrose

Ooo this is so helpful to read, my first I had 3 epidurals and none of them worked and I'm starting to feel uneasy about the impending day. Probably need to get a yoga ball sometime soon...

k_simmons

I always do evening primrose capsules closer towards the end. Probably about 35/36 weeks. Then slowly start inserting more vaginally. I’ve always heard it helps with effacement. Plus it’s great to use for perineal massages! 

I’m going to start RRL tea and collect colostrum as well! I ordered this little hakaa syringe collecting set off Amazon. I’m only 32 wks rn so will wait to start that until later on as well! Probably about 36/37 weeks! I’ve tried pumping closer to DD in the past to help jump start labor, kept active, walked 2-3 miles daily towards the end and all of my babies have stayed very comfortable. So they truly just come when they’re ready. Although i will say, my last two pregnancies i went into labor fully effaced and sat at 3-4cm for weeks. 

So i do think while they may not have helped “induce” labor, they definitely helped WITH my labor! 

Staying active made a world of difference with my second and third pregnancy. 

My third pregnancy was my twin pregnancy and i was able to have them fully natural (pain med wise) they did start my labor with a very low pitocin drip then turned it off bc my body jumped into gear. 

They didn’t want me going too far past 38 weeks and the babies stayed in, so they induced me, but again, turned it off shortly after bc my body jumped into gear after they started it. 

Was able to have them unmedicated and vaginally! My easiest labor of all four of my kiddos! 

I keep getting weird feelings I’m going to have this baby early, I’ve stayed consistent in the gym doing my usual heavier lifting and feel great! my dr thinks everything looks great and my cervix is still long. So who knows 🤣 but baby number 5, i just hope she decides to come before 40 weeks, as like i said, all my babies have stayed comfy. 

My last sono was at 25 weeks! 

I’ll have my next one in 2 more weeks probably and i think she said my last one would be at 38 weeks, but who knows. I swear everytime i go it’s something different 😆 

drfinitely planning on going all natural this time. Declining induction and meds if everything is well! 

My twins’ birth was my easiest recovery and i think the lack of drugs and interventions played a world of difference in it. Our bodies know what to do and were made to do it! Trust your bodies, do some breathing classes, look at different pushing positions - (flat on your back is the worst position you could do, as it actually doesn’t allow your pelvis to be as open as possible, plus gravity isn’t helping you, and often leads to purple pushing, which tires you more) 
stay hydrated and eat during labor. Most nurses and Drs will say you cannot, but this is a huge thing, your body needs energy! Sneak some granola bars/ protein bars or something and lots of water! There is a lack of evidence showing there are more pros for not eating during labor than being able to eat. While yes there are reasonings, it was such an old age thing and the statistics of those things happening are so slim. do your own research and do what makes you feel most confident, but just another thing that can help give you the boost you may need for an unmedicated and natural labor!