Ask Me Anything

jennybean80 · July 2018

All right bumpies, you asked for it so here it is. Ask me anything. My background: I’m a L&D nurse with 10 years experience, I’ve also worked a bit in Post-Partum and NICU through the years. I’m happy to answer questions with the caveat that I am NOT a doctor, and can not diagnose medical conditions, and that you should run concerns by your doctor/midwife etc.

KFrob · July 2018

you are seriously the best for this thread!!!

sliztee · July 2018

I'm so happy this exists.

bntfroggie · July 2018

In your opinion is it okay to push back on doctors during Labor? Like if you want to hold off on something. I felt so pressured last time? Obviously I know baby's safety is number one, but I just wanted options and for someone to slow down enough to talk to me

britvahok · July 2018

Image: https://media1.giphy.com/media/cFlATddjdv3A4/giphy.gif

Thanks @jennybean80!

jennybean80 · July 2018

@britvahok yes. Advocate for yourself. Ask questions (things like “what are the expected outcomes in the situation?”, “what happens if we wait 15 minutes?”, “is there time for my husband/partner/doula and I to discuss this before coming to a decision?”).
There are absolutely situations where time is truly not an option (cord prolapse or shoulder dystocia) but for the most part waiting a couple minutes to let you know what is going on isn’t going to alter baby’s outcome either way.

bel194 · July 2018

How many women actually poop on the table? My nurse with DD said that most do, they usually just don't know it happened. Is this true?

eireyes · July 2018

@bel194 I know I definitely peed, and I know a few moms that have pooped (no idea if I did or not, they only mentioned the pee). At that point in the game I figure everyone on that end of things has seen it all and they don't give a darn or they still wouldn't be on that end of the table

jennybean80 · July 2018

@bel194 over 50%. But it’s not like a full BM, it’s usually just a tiny amount that the nurses take care of immediately. They’re going to be cleaning up discharge, blood and amniotic fluid pretty routinely during pushing anyway, so you probably won’t even notice an extra wipe.

spartan4life · July 2018

@bel194 I told DH if I can poop by then I’m more than happy to

sammierose464 · July 2018

I was reading something yesterday that it's considered good if you do poop because it means you're pushing correctly and baby is moving correctly.

knottieamusements · July 2018

For those of us planning to write birth plans, what are the things you find most helpful (or pet peeves)?

cjx95 · July 2018

@knottieamusements I'm going to ask what my hospitals procedures are and if they have any dos and don'ts and work on my plan from there.
I've been in a "go with the flow" mode for this pregnancy and plan to carry that out into labor, but there are things I dont want to budge on.
I honestly googled a lot of templates and other bmbs threads to see what they had since I've never done this before and that gave be a good idea of what I'm looking for and what I dont care about.

jennybean80 · July 2018

@knottieamusements ask your OB/midwife what the standard practice of care is, then don’t bother including those things. Telling me you want skin-to-skin is kind of redundant since we do that automatically, but if you want baby wipes off and weighed first let me know that since it’s not the normal situation.
Putting things like “only a c-section in case of an emergency” is a bit pointless since that’s basically the only time we would do one.
If you want anything really unique include it. If you want to avoid routine procedures (eye ointment for baby etc) include that. If you want Guncle to announce the sex, include that.
But including the standard isn’t really necessary.

jennybean80 · July 2018

Oh! And try and keep it point form, and one page or less. Longest I had show up was 8 pages. No one read it.

cagncoo12 · July 2018

@jennybean80 do L&D nurses stay in the room if/when you get your epidural? I feel like I would feel more comfortable with a nurse who has spent a couple hours with me and gets to know me a bit before someone sticks a giant needle in my back and administers a medicine I've never had before.

jennybean80 · July 2018

@cagncoo12 yes, typically the nurse will stay with you to help get you in the correct position and explain what’s going on. The actual procedure will be done by an anesthesiologist. The meds are typically a local anesthetic (lidocaine or xylocaine- similar to what dentists use) and a tiny amount of a narcotic (ours contain Fentanyl).
The nurse should also stay in the room with you for at least 30-60 minutes after the procedure to make sure you don’t have any weird med reactions or a drop in blood pressure.

sliztee · July 2018

Good question, @cagncoo12!

midwestmom12 · July 2018

@jennybean80 what are the best nurse gifts? We LOVED our nurses with DD and DS, and I’d like to bring something to show our appreciation this time around!

jennybean80 · July 2018

@midwestmom12 nurses like coffee/tea, food, or nice hand lotion! Hand washing/sanitizer = super dry hands. Ooh decent black pens (that click open, no lids).

sammierose464 · July 2018

Maybe I'll buy a set of my favorite papermate gel pens!

cagncoo12 · July 2018

@jennybean80 that makes me feel so much better about an epi!

chyvie · July 2018

My biggest fear is the epidural as I hate needles. I don't like pain though so I'm going to get it.
My questions are:
- how much does the needle hurt
- is it true they keep the needle in your back like an IV
- if you don't like how it feels can they flush it out or turn it off?
- what are the risks?

jennybean80 · July 2018

@chyvie
- the epidural needle just feels like a weird pressure. They put local freezing in place first, which stings for about 5 seconds, then it’s just pressure.
- it’s similar to an IV, but for both the epidural and the IV the actual needle comes out and a thin flexible tube (a cannula) is left in place to deliver medication. Nothing sharp stays in your body.
- if you don’t like it they can turn it off, but it will take about 30 minutes for the medication to wear off.
- the main risks include the standards for anytime a needle pierces skin, like infection or bleeding at the site. There is around a 0.5 - 1% chance of an epidural headache about a day later, big risks like nerve damage are almost unheard of. We deliver 6000+ babies a year with around an 80% epidural rate, and I’ve never heard of anyone having one of the big ticket complications.

sammierose464 · July 2018

That actually makes me feel a little better about the epi

HoosOnFirst · July 2018

I have a nerve disease and I was still cleared to have an epidural. It didn’t hurt at all to put in. Or maybe it was just because the contractions hurt worse, relatively! For me it also wore off pretty quickly once it was shut off or turned down.

jwebbbber45678 · July 2018

When those contractions are in full swing a needle in your back is nothing! I was so afraid of the epidural and swore I'd go natural. When I checked into the hospital I was begging for that needle!

Thanks for all your expert advice and everything you do! I loved having a great team of nurses, they made the experience wonderful for me!

l_haz · July 2018

At what level do you transfuse blood? My H/H is 8.5/27.

jennybean80 · July 2018

@l_hazzard that one you’d have to run by your doc. We use different lab values in Canada, so I’m never confident giving that kind of info. It’s too easy to mix up the conversions.
Sorry

DunkinDecaf · July 2018

Awww I thought this was a normal AMA and I was going to ask... KFM Ron, Harry and Neville?

Nurse question too though so I don’t derail the thread, how do drs safely get a baby out who has the cord wrapped around their neck? Somehow I’ve failed to ask that twice and I always wonder. DD1 had it wrapped 3x and DD2 had it wrapped 2x around, and it seemed like they just snipped it as soon as they noticed and then kept going as usual, but why doesn’t that cause problems earlier? Is there a special way they do it?

chyvie · July 2018

Thanks @jennybean80 that really puts my mind at ease.

sliztee · July 2018

For the record, @DunkinDecaf

Marry - Neville
Fuck - Harry
Kill - Ron (I'm still just really salty about his behavior in the last book.)

sammierose464 · July 2018

I agree @sliztee

rabtaido1214 · July 2018

What are some of the most annoying or frustrating things that laboring moms do, from the perspective of the nurses and medical professionals?

DunkinDecaf · July 2018

sliztee said:

For the record, @DunkinDecaf

Marry - Neville
Fuck - Harry
Kill - Ron (I'm still just really salty about his behavior in the last book.)

Hahaha I definitely get the grumpiness with Ron. I think he has the best sense of humor though, despite his flaws, so I’d marry Ron, fuck Neville, and kill Harry. HP is way too angsty for me.

sliztee · July 2018

That's why I think he'd be a solid lay, but not marriage material.

tlmill · July 2018

Yeah the needle in your back is nothing. It’s being hunched over and unable to move while you’re contracting that sucks.

Lisa3379 · July 2018

What @tlmill said. Last time I waited too long to get my epidural, and the process of putting it in took a lot longer because they had to keep stopping during my super painful, fairly frequent contractions.

knottieamusements · July 2018

Isn’t there a point during labor at which they will no longer administer an epidural?

jennybean80 · July 2018

@DunkinDecaf the cord around the neck typically doesn’t cause a lot of issues during labour because baby’s aren’t breathing yet, so something around the neck doesn’t really impact much. Depending on how many loops and how tight it is it can actually pinch of blood supply through the cord and cause problems with baby’s heart rate. At delivery of the cord is fairly loose they just slip it over baby’s head or deliver baby and slip in down the body. If it’s too tight for that they just clamp and cut it before the body is delivered.

And I think I agree with @sliztee for FMK.

jennybean80 · July 2018

@rabtaido1214 I always shake my head at the FTMs who say they don’t want anything for pain, but then have come up with zero ideas or strategies for dealing with contractions. I can definitely help with some coping strategies, but you have to be able to at least help yourself a bit.
Other than that people who are over-the-top out of control. Labour hurts but hitting your partner or trying to bite the nurse (yep.... it’s happened) is a pretty sure way of not getting what you want.

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