Hoping for water birth and other update on us.....
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive December 2004:
Hoping for water birth and other update on us.....
33 wks now! All is well. Had an ultra sound yesterday for growth/development/a. fluid. All is well and he is head down...but boy does he look all squished and turned up like a screw. I could barely tell what I was looking at during the u/s.
Went to a water birthing class at the hospital. Hoping to go that route. Was given a drug prior to DD's birth and both of us were knocked out for days, so hoping to go natural.
contacted a women who does labor/delivery hypnosis and I will be taking classes for that in the next week or so. I've been hypnotized before w/ success for TMJ. DH thinks I'm a nut and it is a waste of time and money, but told me "whatever you want to do" 
I spoke about using her as a doula, but not sure if that is financially in our plans. Boy would I love that extra help.
The last month I have been eating well and gaining weight. Mostly spending my days sitting around and trying not to have to pick up anything off the floor.
Glad to have the holidays filling the next couple weeks. Then I only have the last weeks to wait out.
Not spending much time online these days. Seems everything I do takes twice as long so not as much time to spare any more.
Has anyone else used hypnosis or water birth?
Happy Holidays everyone!
No experience there, but Good Luck on whatever you decide to do. Happy Holidays to you, hope all goes well. Not too much longer to go..yay!
Good luck to you I hope you are able to deliver the way you would like.
I haven't used hypnosis or water birth before but I know they are getting more popular, so something must be working with them!
Sorry...no hypnosis or water birth. I'm a big fan of drugs...I'm such a wimp!
Sounds great! Can't wait to hear the news. BTW, I used a TENS unit for the birth of my second child after a horrible experience with an epidural for the first, and I was able to give birth without ANY drugs--not even a Tylenol. I felt terrific after I delivered and my son was very alert and able to breastfeed very successfully immediately after birth. I'd be happy to provide more info if you're interested.
No experience here... but good luck!
I wanted to do water birth for my last but my nurse midwife wouldn't do it because my other babies were so large.... 8 15.5 and 10.2
great news Dana your pregnancy has just flew by (well for me anyways lol) i can't wait until you have your bundle of joy with you = )
No experience here either...good luck. Let us know how things go sweetie.
PamT, what is TENS? And please pray for me that I have the success you had w/ your no drug delivery. I am so nervous about this.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation
TENS Info
At the onset of labour, simply apply the 4 pads to your back as shown in the accompanying instructions and switch the TENS unit on. You will feel a pleasant pulsing sensation. This will help to raise the level your own pain relieving chemicals known as endorphins. When experiencing a contraction, press the booster button for the extra surge of power needed to combat the pain. When the contraction ends, press the booster button again - it’s that simple!
This site has one you can buy. It is a British site
More Info on TENS
I had both my boys at home and the last was born in our bathtub.....it was awesome.....but I do have to say that I didn't see too much difference in the pain.....still hurt! LOL!
But in both cases I was breastfeeding almost immediately.....and of course feeling great once the baby was out.
When Kiko came out he had the cord around his neck. Without even thinking I just slipped it off. My midwife was laughing because it was such a natural thing to do but a doctor probably wouldn't give you a chance.....but when you are the one in the tub you basically get to grab the baby before anyone else does......
My husband says that when Kiko was coming out I almost ripped the soapdish out of the wall....
fiona
That TENS sounds like a pretty good Idea I think I may talk to my doctor about using that this time. I had a horrible experience with my epidural the second time....IT DIDN'T WORK! I am not going to chance that again, I will go with something else to relief the pain.
With DD I had a light epidural so it took the edge off but I could still feel the urge to push and all. I was wide awake and not droggy and DD was active as ever (her 1 and 5 min. APGAR were both a 9). The only downside was that one of my legs was numb for 12 hours after so I had to stay in L&D instead of moving to the recovery room. But I was breastfeeding about an hour after she was born once all the nurses and doctors were done with the both of us.
I've watched the water births and they seem very interesting. I wonder how good they work because when I have my monthly cramping I take a hot bath and it soothes the cramps, though labor cramps are nothing to compare that that. But i'm too much of a baby to be anywhere where an epidural would NOT be in case I couldnt handle it.
Good luck and i'm interested in hearing how it goes if you do that!
Thanks for the TENS info. Well worth me looking further into it. Too funny about the soap dish, Fiona
I almost ripped DH's arm out of his socket when I was in labor with #2. I was fine after they gave me the epidural, which worked fine for the pain, but I wonder if it is why I ended up with c-sections.
Au Naturel 4 times here! I hope it works for you.
I also had #4 at home in water. Like Feona said, it still hurts, however in between contractions you totally relax and fast! I was not able to labor in the tub because it made things slow down too much, but the delivery was in water. The best part was easily moving into whatever position made me comfortable, it's like floating from one to another rather than heaving I also loved the fact that no one touched him before I did, I actually delivered him myself, and wiped him etc, than dh cut the cord after the placenta quit pulsing and the midwives took him so I could get out! I begged them to just take him out for me in the end, one of the midwives said I looked like a crack addict begging for drugs My other three kids were in with us, and my than 1st grader told his class I was screaming like Tarzan! It was pretty accurate.
As far as hypno birth, I didn't use it, I knew all along drugs were not an option for me and put my self in that state w/ out knowing it, however my cousin used and labored great for 24 hours, eventually did have a c-section afterall (her second, she was trying for vbac) but said her labor was awesome! She also used a great CD called Songs of the Inner Child to accompany her at home and in the hospital.
I hope it works well for you, the being a part of the experience is wonderful, I don't fault women for going the epi way but I can say that natural is a wonderful beautiful thing and I would encourage anyone to go that route!
Dana, re: the TENS unit. The description above is pretty accurate. However, I had to get a prescription for a TENS unit from my OB-GYN and then I rented one from a medical supply place. Very cheap and I rented it about a week before my due date. Then, I had a prescription to go see a physical therapist and learn how to hook up the TENS and use it.
I learned about TENS from a physical therapist in TX who used one with her labor. My OB-GYN had never heard of it used in labor, but thought it was cool so she wrote the scripts I needed and afterwards said she recommend it to other patients. The PT I went to had also never used a TENS with a maternity patient before, but she found the necessary info from a colleague so she could teach me what to do. She warned that the unit can mess up the fetal monitor at times, but it didn't with me.
The TENS doesn't work as much by releasing endorphins as it does by confusing your brain's pain center. You crank up the intensity of the electrical impulses as your contraction gets stronger. Your brain has 2 incoming pain messages---one from the contraction and one from the electrical stimulation along the nerves in your back. You can adjust the TENS unit to send the impulses in different rhythms. It is better to select an erratic, random rhythm. This is harder for the brain to figure out, so your brain will be working hard to interpret the message so not as much pain is truly perceived. If you have the TENS on a rhythmic pattern you brain expects it, begins to ignore it, and focuses on the pain of the contractions instead.
All in all it worked great for me. Don't get me wrong...labor was still very painful, but bearable and I didn't have all of the complications that I had experienced with an epidural such as inability to feel to push necessitating the use of a vacuum extractor, decreased heart rate in my son during labor, tearing into a stage 3 because of the vacuum extractor, needing to be catherized after delivery because of lack of sensation, etc. It also gave my DH a way to feel useful and productive in the labor/delivery room because he watched the fetal monitor for signs of contractions and then cranked up the TENS unit and turned it back down at the appropriate times. We were quite a team. I also had practiced my breathing and relaxation techniques and used them throughout labor as well.
One more thing...
If you do use a TENS, learn from my mistake and DON'T remove it immediately after delivery as I did. If you are planning to breastfeed, the afterpains of uterine cramping will be much stronger with your 2nd baby. Pretty close to labor pain strength. I ended up taking medication for the afterpains and wished I had just left the TENS hooked up to myself for the first few nursing sessions.
Good luck!!! It's all so exciting! And I agree with Kym that being a part of the experience and having a non-medicated childbirth was an awesome experience that I wouldn't trade for the world.
No experience here, I had to C-Sections. I wanted to do a water birth with my last one but because of my first pregnancy that option was out for me. Good Luck!
Great information, everyone. Thanks for the input. I start my hypnosis learning sessions next week.
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