Med-Free Check-In 12/22

slartybartfast · December 2016

1) how far along?
2) how has pregnancy treated you this week?
3) since everyone is so close to the end, why don't we revisit the first question - why are you aiming to go med-free?

BTDT - for those on the other side, describe your some of your thoughts during transition

zubenescamali · December 2016

1. 40+4
2. Frustratingly. Every night I go to bed thinking I'll wake up with contractions, and every night I wake up and just have to pee. Or poop. I don't want to face the induction talk on Tuesday if I'm still pregnant, but I also don't want to be in the hospital over Christmas, not fair to me or my 2DDs.
3. I'm trying to avoid the intervention cascade and have as peaceful of a birth as possible. My first was so traumatic, my second was very healing and I am looking forward to my third being empowering. It's more about overcoming the fear and having confidence in my body and myself, vs anything else.

slartybartfast · December 2016

1- It's my first full day not pregnant!

2- the last weeks of pregnancy were really hard with all the prelabor contractions and weird feelings about being "overdue"
but birth was amazing!!

3- avoiding the cascade of interventions and the risks that come with any intervention was first and foremost. Second it honestly was a huge desire of mine to fully experience the birth process and have the opportunity to trust my body.

Btdt- i need to write my birth story today because it's already slipping away. Transition hit and my thoughts were a little out of body. I was really observing the new level of intensity and my involuntary reactions to it. I communicated it was time but I still doubted myself... like someone else should be giving me permission for it to be time. I overrode that feeling though. I knew.
for me it wasn't a time where I felt I couldn't do it - like I read is common. The sensations felt so extreme and productive that I knew I was doing it.

tinattt23 · December 2016

1) how far along?
40+1

2) how has pregnancy treated you this week?
I hit the wall. The day before my due date I finally started getting uncomfortable. On my due date I had a melt down. I just want to be able to sit down and relax. Then I paniced because if I'm whining about this, how can I possibly handle birth pain. Queue spiral of doubt. But I think I'm ok now.

3) since everyone is so close to the end, why don't we revisit the first question - why are you aiming to go med-free?
Avoid risks that come along with interventions. Do what my body was made to do. And honestly, at this point, there is a little bit of spite in needing to prove all those naysayers wrong. I can do thIs.

maamawaabangi · December 2016

1) how far along? 39+3

2) how has pregnancy treated you this week?
Actually great! I feel better the last 3-5 days than I felt for a month... i think my supplements are kicking in.

3) since everyone is so close to the end, why don't we revisit the first question - why are you aiming to go med-free?
I've always pursued a med free birth because I believe it's safest and I am a big believer in the midwifery model of care. Plus aspects of obstetric care "weird" me out for a lack of a better way to put it. After having had so many MW and med free births it just seems normal and a given.

BTDT - for those on the other side, describe your some of your thoughts during transition
From previous births... I tend to always feel doubtful Im that far along... thoughts like "I can't possible be ready to push". With my 3rd (hardest) I felt very doubtful and fearful but some of that was my MW casting doubt on to me. I don't know, but I don't think I have as bad of transitions as some women do as far as pain goes... it's like active labor blends into readiness to push more gradually and when I start to push as I need/feel it my body makes the change??? Who knows? I'll try to pay attention this time...

slartybartfast · December 2016

@maamawaabangi your description of transition is what I felt too. I was sort of thrown off (in a good way) by that. I thought it was going to be more like... whoa labor went into turbo drive gonna wanna push soon. Instead it felt like - whoa baby is headed down and was more of a labor blending into pushing...

slartybartfast · December 2016

@tinattt23 I also felt just worn out, unmotivated, DONE the days before labor. When I finally believed I was in labor, i had no trouble pulling out of that . I say don't worry. It's in you even if late pregnancy makes you feel like doody

tinattt23 · December 2016

@slartybartfast I just keep reminding myself that labor pain has a purpose. I can handle it because I know why it's happening and that it's a good thing. Annoying back pain and general discomfort has no purpose and is so much more annoying. It just makes me whiney and no fun to be around.

I was due for a melt down. I'd been pretty confident and ready up until now. It was bound to happen. Maybe now that it's been purged out he'll feel ready to show up.

slartybartfast · December 2016

Also, this is my second non-pregnant day. Time is beyond me with the newborn snuggles

PensiveCrayon · December 2016

@slartybartfast Haha, I was wondering about the timing there!

1) how far along? 39 weeks today. Full term, I guess!

2) how has pregnancy treated you this week? Like @tinattt23 I reached my breaking point on Monday. I've had a very, very easy pregnancy so far, but Monday the kid was up in my ribs, I couldn't bend over to pick up my dropped phone in the car, the Vegas sun was turning my car into a toaster oven, the Expectant Mother parking was taken at the Bx, etc, etc.

Being not pregnant, I would always look at my complainy preggo FB friends and think, "You know it's going to be a lot harder once the kid is out, right?" but now that I'm here, I totally get it. I've been doing a little better in the last couple days, but at this point I just want my body back to myself. Even if that means going through the hurdle that is labor. And I really want to meet my child! Especially seeing all these squish pics on here.

3) since everyone is so close to the end, why don't we revisit the first question - why are you aiming to go med-free? The original inspiration is because I've grown up with the knowledge that I was born at home, and because my mom has been a midwife since I was in high school. So I've always been pretty informed about birth, and going the normal hospital/epidural route just hasn't really been on my radar ever. I've always wanted a home water birth, to the point that my husband and I would have disagreements about it when we were in high school. (We pretty much knew we were going to get married then. I'm glad I was able to change his mind about the home birth thing, by the way!)

tinattt23 · December 2016

Super random question for our homebirth mamas...

My birth class was help in a birth center. Two of the couples were planning to deliver there, so the instructor would talk about policies for hospitals and the center. She mentioned that in the birth kit the birth center moms had there was something to test if your water had broken. They were supposed to call their midwife, answer some questions, and test if told to do so.

Do do you guys have this test in your kit? What's it called? Google is not helping me. I was just wondering why it isn't more available. Maybe it's expensive? Not too accurate? Seems like something that a lot of people would like to have.

maamawaabangi · December 2016

No, I've never heard of that... you could look up "home birth kits" and maybe ask or look around on their sites.

ajstevenson · December 2016

Spent the afternoon in triage for high blood pressure and some other pre-e symptoms but we finally got a clean bill of health and we're able to go home! I'm so relieved because that means that, for now, we can still try to labor at home for a while and attempt a med-free birth.
1) how far along? 38+6

2) how has pregnancy treated you this week? Yesterday and today were not fun. They did give me medicine for my headache which helped so much.

3) since everyone is so close to the end, why don't we revisit the first question - why are you aiming to go med-free? To me I've read a lot of stories about how medications can sometimes make labor more painful or difficult. I trust my body and think that it will know what to do when it comes time to give birth.

BTDT - for those on the other side, describe your some of your thoughts during transition

PensiveCrayon · December 2016

@tinattt23 I haven't heard of strips being given for home births, but I have heard of them being used at the hospital during some of the birth stories I've been listening to.

Now that you've got me curious, I've turned to Google for help, and it looks like maybe the strips people are using test the Ph of fluid? From here: "Nitrazine testing: Leaking amniotic fluid is considerably more alkaline than vaginal fluid. An abnormal pH profile, typically identified through nitrazine testing, can indicate that PROM has occurred. However, nitrazine testing is unreliable as several substances, including blood, semen and urine, can create false positives."

Or if you've got a powerful microscope lying around, you could always check for ferning!

tinattt23 · December 2016

@PensiveCrayon Yes, I bet they were talking about the nitrazine tests! So reliability must be the issue. I guess false positives aren't the worst as a first line test, but makes sense why we don't just hand them out to everyone.

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