labor is near I guess - long

I went for my 36 week appt today. (I am really 35 weeks and some
number of days or whatever.) I am 80% effaced and 1.5cm dialated. The
doc's exact words were "well, you won't be making it to your due
date." I feel as though it is going to happen any time. Effective this
weekend I thought for sure that it was any time, though I would not be
surprised if we linger for 2 weeks. I would be surprised if it is more
than that. So, I have some questions.

1. I want some music for labor. I am looking for world music which is
both relaxing and empowering/ encouraging. I am partial to West
African drum. But like everything. Anyone have a recommendation? Most
of the stuff I have is too bouncy / dancy.

2. I have written a birth plan, which I did not do for my first. Are
you willing to read and comment? It is really long and the formatting
has been stripped in this text post.

Thanks!

S

Labor and Delivery
Philosophy
I believe that, all things being equal, the less intervention during a
labor and delivery, the less risk there is that further intervention
will be necessary. I believe a woman's body is made to deliver babies
and that it can be very safe to do it naturally. But I also believe
that all things are not always equal. The practice of medicine is
about managing risks for the best outcome, in this case for mother and
baby. I would like to attempt a natural birth, free of intervention
while taking advantage of the availability of pain medications if
necessary. In my reading on this subject, the benefits of this which
are most appealing a
 Decreased risk of intervention leading to more intervention.
 Less risk of drowsy baby affecting early breastfeeding.
 Faster recovery for Mom.
 No chance of epidural headache, which, though rare, would be
really awful. I hate headaches.
PLEASE - the following issues are very important to me
 No visitors except my husband.
 As little restrictive monitoring as possible without
impacting baby's wellbeing. Handheld monitors are fine.
 I do not want to be restricted to the bed.
 I would prefer no IV or other tubes, belts or attachments.
 As long as the baby and I are fine, I would like to be free
of time limits and not have my labor augmented.
 If I do request pain medication, I would request epidural
rather than any other type. If this becomes the case, I understand
that it negates my wishes regarding restriction to the bed, IV and
several other items on this very plan.
 I would prefer no routine episitome.
 I would like to be able to hold my baby ass soon as humanly
possible after birth.
The following issues are less important, but would be nice
 I would like to be able to sip water if thirsty, if no
medical reason to prevent it.
 I would prefer not to undergo internal exams, or limit them,
during labor unless they're medically necessary.
 If available, I would like access to a CD player for playing
relaxing music.
 If available, I would like access to a birthing pool. I would
not like to actually deliver the baby in a pool! The relief of
pressure may be nice for pain management. But I do not want to deliver
the baby in the water!
 I would like to try to push instinctively and not be told how
or when to push.
Post Delivery and Maternity Ward
 If available, I would really, really like a private room.
I'll bet everyone asks for that! Any room mate would appreciate it
too, since I snore to wake the dead.
 I plan to breastfeed.
 Please, no artificial nipples of any kind. No bottles,
pacifiers, etc..
 No sugar water or any non-breast milk liquids without express
consent of mother or father.
 Since no bottles are allowed, feel free to bring to Mom for a
feeding at any time if baby is in the nursery. Wake Mom up if
necessary.
 In the unlikely event that the baby turns out to be a boy, I
would like the baby to remain uncircumcised.

I've been 2cm and 70% since 36 weeks! I am now 39w3d and no sign of labor
at all! My OB said the same thing... "If I had to bet, you won't make it to
your due date!" Now we are to the point of scheduling induction at 41w

I really don't want to be induced but I'm not sure I can make it another 3
weeks since I've been waiting for 3 weeks already.

I hope you do go soon though! Good luck.

molly

"Stephanie" wrote in message
om...
I went for my 36 week appt today. (I am really 35 weeks and some
number of days or whatever.) I am 80% effaced and 1.5cm dialated. The
doc's exact words were "well, you won't be making it to your due
date." I feel as though it is going to happen any time. Effective this
weekend I thought for sure that it was any time, though I would not be
surprised if we linger for 2 weeks. I would be surprised if it is more
than that. So, I have some questions.

1. I want some music for labor. I am looking for world music which is
both relaxing and empowering/ encouraging. I am partial to West
African drum. But like everything. Anyone have a recommendation? Most
of the stuff I have is too bouncy / dancy.

2. I have written a birth plan, which I did not do for my first. Are
you willing to read and comment? It is really long and the formatting
has been stripped in this text post.

Thanks!

S

Labor and Delivery
Philosophy
I believe that, all things being equal, the less intervention during a
labor and delivery, the less risk there is that further intervention
will be necessary. I believe a woman's body is made to deliver babies
and that it can be very safe to do it naturally. But I also believe
that all things are not always equal. The practice of medicine is
about managing risks for the best outcome, in this case for mother and
baby. I would like to attempt a natural birth, free of intervention
while taking advantage of the availability of pain medications if
necessary. In my reading on this subject, the benefits of this which
are most appealing a
 Decreased risk of intervention leading to more intervention.
 Less risk of drowsy baby affecting early breastfeeding.
 Faster recovery for Mom.
 No chance of epidural headache, which, though rare, would be
really awful. I hate headaches.
PLEASE - the following issues are very important to me
 No visitors except my husband.
 As little restrictive monitoring as possible without
impacting baby's wellbeing. Handheld monitors are fine.
 I do not want to be restricted to the bed.
 I would prefer no IV or other tubes, belts or attachments.
 As long as the baby and I are fine, I would like to be free
of time limits and not have my labor augmented.
 If I do request pain medication, I would request epidural
rather than any other type. If this becomes the case, I understand
that it negates my wishes regarding restriction to the bed, IV and
several other items on this very plan.
 I would prefer no routine episitome.
 I would like to be able to hold my baby ass soon as humanly
possible after birth.
The following issues are less important, but would be nice
 I would like to be able to sip water if thirsty, if no
medical reason to prevent it.
 I would prefer not to undergo internal exams, or limit them,
during labor unless they're medically necessary.
 If available, I would like access to a CD player for playing
relaxing music.
 If available, I would like access to a birthing pool. I would
not like to actually deliver the baby in a pool! The relief of
pressure may be nice for pain management. But I do not want to deliver
the baby in the water!
 I would like to try to push instinctively and not be told how
or when to push.
Post Delivery and Maternity Ward
 If available, I would really, really like a private room.
I'll bet everyone asks for that! Any room mate would appreciate it
too, since I snore to wake the dead.
 I plan to breastfeed.
 Please, no artificial nipples of any kind. No bottles,
pacifiers, etc..
 No sugar water or any non-breast milk liquids without express
consent of mother or father.
 Since no bottles are allowed, feel free to bring to Mom for a
feeding at any time if baby is in the nursery. Wake Mom up if
necessary.
 In the unlikely event that the baby turns out to be a boy, I
would like the baby to remain uncircumcised.

On 19 Aug 2003 11:23:42 -0700, (Stephanie) wrote:

2. I have written a birth plan, which I did not do for my first. Are
you willing to read and comment? It is really long and the formatting
has been stripped in this text post.

I did read it, and I don't have too many comments. I was told by a
midwife that anything over a page isn't read. I don't know how long
your plan is. But if it is longer, I would def. shorten it to fit the
one page.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:01:18 -0700, "Circe" wrote:

When I was pregnant with my third and had high BP, the doctors who advised
my midwives kept telling me I *had* to be induced.

Did you have pre-eclampsia or simply high BP?? Just curious.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 16:24:19 -0700, "Circe" wrote:

They finally wore me down, though, even though
all my research said elevated BP without any other clinical signs of
pre-eclampsia isn't dangerous as long as the BP isn't dangerous on its own.

This is what I thought. However, I can see where the *doctors* would
be on the side of inducing.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

In article ,
Stephanie wrote:
[snip]
Labor and Delivery
Philosophy
I believe that, all things being equal, the less intervention during a
labor and delivery, the less risk there is that further intervention
will be necessary. I believe a woman's body is made to deliver babies
and that it can be very safe to do it naturally. But I also believe
that all things are not always equal. The practice of medicine is
about managing risks for the best outcome, in this case for mother and
baby. I would like to attempt a natural birth, free of intervention
while taking advantage of the availability of pain medications if
necessary. In my reading on this subject, the benefits of this which
are most appealing a
o Decreased risk of intervention leading to more intervention.
o Less risk of drowsy baby affecting early breastfeeding.
o Faster recovery for Mom.
o No chance of epidural headache, which, though rare, would be
really awful. I hate headaches.

I would take out the above part. This is your plan. You don't want
to focus too much on saying why (presumbly that comes when talking to
your OB about it) but rather to have some bullet items you can wave at
the nurses and whatever OB is on call.

PLEASE - the following issues are very important to me
o No visitors except my husband.
o As little restrictive monitoring as possible without
impacting baby's wellbeing. Handheld monitors are fine.

Ok, so I tried that and the nurses need *specific* guidelines to
follow, since they are used to strapping the laboring Mom in and going
away. This time around I specifically am stating I want to be
monitored for only 10 minutes of each hour, barring signs of fetal
distress. If a nurse is not available after 10 minutes, I will take
the monitor off. Get your OB to sign the birth plan, btw, or these
things are not taken seriously by the nurses.

o I do not want to be restricted to the bed.
o I would prefer no IV or other tubes, belts or attachments.

I would recommend stating 'I would prefer no IV, or a heparin lock
over an IV'. The heparin lock often relieves the staff who otherwise
can think of nothing but 'of *something* happens we would have to put
in an IV'. You have the IV line in the back of your left hand and it
is capped with heparin, a blood thinner, so that it doesn't clog.
Then you can move around, and even on all fours it didn't bother me
much.

o As long as the baby and I are fine, I would like to be free
of time limits and not have my labor augmented.
o If I do request pain medication, I would request epidural
rather than any other type. If this becomes the case, I understand
that it negates my wishes regarding restriction to the bed, IV and
several other items on this very plan.
o I would prefer no routine episitome.

Episiotomy. Some more information for the OB is good here such as, 'I
prefer to tear rather than have an episiotomy (as studies have
demonstrated that tears heal better with less pain) and would like to
have my perineum supported during pushing to avoid even a tear.'

o I would like to be able to hold my baby as soon as humanly
possible after birth.

You can also ask they hold off on the eye drops and any injections
(Vit K can be given orally) for I think 1-2 hours. By law this is
permitted.


The following issues are less important, but would be nice
o I would like to be able to sip water if thirsty, if no
medical reason to prevent it.


I'm planning to bring clear gatorage in water bottles (clear sided)
and not mention it to anyone. I can't believe they would deny you
water!

o I would prefer not to undergo internal exams, or limit them,
during labor unless they're medically necessary.
o If available, I would like access to a CD player for playing
relaxing music.
o If available, I would like access to a birthing pool. I would
not like to actually deliver the baby in a pool! The relief of
pressure may be nice for pain management. But I do not want to deliver
the baby in the water!

See also if they have showers available, even if a bath is not. Any
water is better than none.

o I would like to try to push instinctively and not be told how
or when to push.
Post Delivery and Maternity Ward
o If available, I would really, really like a private room.
I'll bet everyone asks for that! Any room mate would appreciate it
too, since I snore to wake the dead.
o I plan to breastfeed.
o Please, no artificial nipples of any kind. No bottles,
pacifiers, etc..
o No sugar water or any non-breast milk liquids without express
consent of mother or father.
o Since no bottles are allowed, feel free to bring to Mom for a
feeding at any time if baby is in the nursery. Wake Mom up if
necessary.
o In the unlikely event that the baby turns out to be a boy, I
would like the baby to remain uncircumcised.


Good luck! I hope you didn't mind my comments. I got out my birth
plan from 1998 and was revising it with what I learned last time for
what did and did not work. The nurses would hook me up for monitoring
and *not* *come* *back*. So 20 minutes later, and I really want to
walk around, use the shower, and what? Ring the nurse who shows up in
20 minutes? Turning the machines off before unhooking doesn't beep
the nurses, so that way they got the strip (and it was fine) and I got
my time off monitoring. It should have been that they came back and
took me off though, and so I'm going to make that very clear this time!

--Carolyn



--
Carolyn Fairman
http://www.stanford.edu/~cfairman/

1. I want some music for labor. I am looking for world music which is
both relaxing and empowering/ encouraging. I am partial to West African
drum. But like everything. Anyone have a recommendation? Most of the
stuff I have is too bouncy / dancy.

Maybe try Javanese gamelan? (Not Balinese, which is different.) It has what
I think are the right properties - a feeling of steady progress, clear
patterns, lots of different levels at which you can listen to it.

Sidheag
edd Oct 13th

Well, maybe it is just me. I would rather wait than go soon. I am pretty
miserable right now. But a "fully cooked" baby seems better than not. So we
will hope.

S

"Molly Ging" wrote in message
...
I've been 2cm and 70% since 36 weeks! I am now 39w3d and no sign of labor
at all! My OB said the same thing... "If I had to bet, you won't make it
to
your due date!" Now we are to the point of scheduling induction at 41w


I really don't want to be induced but I'm not sure I can make it another 3
weeks since I've been waiting for 3 weeks already.

I hope you do go soon though! Good luck.

molly

"Stephanie" wrote in message
om...
I went for my 36 week appt today. (I am really 35 weeks and some
number of days or whatever.) I am 80% effaced and 1.5cm dialated. The
doc's exact words were "well, you won't be making it to your due
date." I feel as though it is going to happen any time. Effective this
weekend I thought for sure that it was any time, though I would not be
surprised if we linger for 2 weeks. I would be surprised if it is more
than that. So, I have some questions.

1. I want some music for labor. I am looking for world music which is
both relaxing and empowering/ encouraging. I am partial to West
African drum. But like everything. Anyone have a recommendation? Most
of the stuff I have is too bouncy / dancy.

2. I have written a birth plan, which I did not do for my first. Are
you willing to read and comment? It is really long and the formatting
has been stripped in this text post.

Thanks!

S

Labor and Delivery
Philosophy
I believe that, all things being equal, the less intervention during a
labor and delivery, the less risk there is that further intervention
will be necessary. I believe a woman's body is made to deliver babies
and that it can be very safe to do it naturally. But I also believe
that all things are not always equal. The practice of medicine is
about managing risks for the best outcome, in this case for mother and
baby. I would like to attempt a natural birth, free of intervention
while taking advantage of the availability of pain medications if
necessary. In my reading on this subject, the benefits of this which
are most appealing a
 Decreased risk of intervention leading to more intervention.
 Less risk of drowsy baby affecting early breastfeeding.
 Faster recovery for Mom.
 No chance of epidural headache, which, though rare, would be
really awful. I hate headaches.
PLEASE - the following issues are very important to me
 No visitors except my husband.
 As little restrictive monitoring as possible without
impacting baby's wellbeing. Handheld monitors are fine.
 I do not want to be restricted to the bed.
 I would prefer no IV or other tubes, belts or attachments.
 As long as the baby and I are fine, I would like to be free
of time limits and not have my labor augmented.
 If I do request pain medication, I would request epidural
rather than any other type. If this becomes the case, I understand
that it negates my wishes regarding restriction to the bed, IV and
several other items on this very plan.
 I would prefer no routine episitome.
 I would like to be able to hold my baby ass soon as humanly
possible after birth.
The following issues are less important, but would be nice
 I would like to be able to sip water if thirsty, if no
medical reason to prevent it.
 I would prefer not to undergo internal exams, or limit them,
during labor unless they're medically necessary.
 If available, I would like access to a CD player for playing
relaxing music.
 If available, I would like access to a birthing pool. I would
not like to actually deliver the baby in a pool! The relief of
pressure may be nice for pain management. But I do not want to deliver
the baby in the water!
 I would like to try to push instinctively and not be told how
or when to push.
Post Delivery and Maternity Ward
 If available, I would really, really like a private room.
I'll bet everyone asks for that! Any room mate would appreciate it
too, since I snore to wake the dead.
 I plan to breastfeed.
 Please, no artificial nipples of any kind. No bottles,
pacifiers, etc..
 No sugar water or any non-breast milk liquids without express
consent of mother or father.
 Since no bottles are allowed, feel free to bring to Mom for a
feeding at any time if baby is in the nursery. Wake Mom up if
necessary.
 In the unlikely event that the baby turns out to be a boy, I
would like the baby to remain uncircumcised.

It has not been just the cervix, but the increase in strength of bh
contractions and whatnot. Though your overall advice is sound. Go with the
flow. Be ready to go, and be ready to wait.

S
"Circe" wrote in message
news:Bdw0b.5411$Qy4.2210@fed1read05...
"Molly Ging" wrote in message
...
I've been 2cm and 70% since 36 weeks! I am now 39w3d and no sign of
labor
at all! My OB said the same thing... "If I had to bet, you won't make
it
to
your due date!" Now we are to the point of scheduling induction at
41w


I really don't want to be induced but I'm not sure I can make it another
3
weeks since I've been waiting for 3 weeks already.

Molly, I have been there, done that, and worn your T-shirt. I went through
the *exact* same thing when I was pregnant with my first. My OB assured me
I'd never see my due date. By 39 weeks, I already felt past due. By 41, I
was sure I'd be pregnant forever. I was induced with pitocin at 41w4d.
Although I had a successful vaginal birth, it was *not* a fun experience.
When I was pregnant with my third and had high BP, the doctors who advised
my midwives kept telling me I *had* to be induced. I told my midwife I
would
rather have sharp sticks shoved under my fingernails than go through
another
pitocin induction unless it was absolutely 100% medically necessary. We
wound up inducing by breaking my amniotic sac at 40w3d.

Anyway, my advice is this: stop expecting your baby to be early. Your OB
can't predict when you'll go into labor by your dilation and effacement,
and
you shouldn't be led to believe otherwise. (Personally, if I were you, I'd
decline further internal exams; they'll only lead to more speculation
about
how much longer you'll be pregnant.) Instead, expect him/her to be late.
Condition yourself to believe you will be pregnant for at least another
three weeks. And *don't* assent to an induction at 41w just because you're
overdue and impatient--you could well wind up regretting it much more than
you'd regret waiting a few more days. I certainly regret my own
impatience.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [17mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Under loves spell" -- Disney Princess shirt slogan

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Circe said the same thing. I will read her comments in detail. The ones I
have seen to this point seem excellent to me. So down to a page it will go.
(But my freshman writing instructor would be so pround of my
"introduction.")

S
"Daye" wrote in message
...
On 19 Aug 2003 11:23:42 -0700, (Stephanie) wrote:

2. I have written a birth plan, which I did not do for my first. Are
you willing to read and comment? It is really long and the formatting
has been stripped in this text post.

I did read it, and I don't have too many comments. I was told by a
midwife that anything over a page isn't read. I don't know how long
your plan is. But if it is longer, I would def. shorten it to fit the
one page.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004