Chat Thread ~ Feb 10th - 16th

[Janelle]

Originally Posted by mommy2wyatt So we had the scariest night. We live rural, our farm is 1,200 acres. But across the road is a huge lit up dairy farm, our farm is essentially dark at night, we have a couple lights outside but you can't really even see our farm from the road because our driveway is so long. I came from the city we always locked our doors. All day, all night the doors were kept locked. Moved out to the country DH never even takes his keys out of his car, the doors are never locked. Last night at 2:30 in the morning a woman woke us up in our bedroom!!!! She said she was lost and our doors were unlocked so she came in to look for help. Who does that!?! DH gave her directions and we sent her on her way, then she got stuck in our driveway(she backed up into our yard instead of staying on the driveway) DH went out to push her but she wasn't doing what he told her to, she just kept gunning it. So she gets out of her car and heads back to our house where I'm standing in the doorway. She starts coming in saying the weather is bad and she's stuck. At this point we are realizing she is quite drunk. I told her she needed to go wait in her car and that I would call the sheriff to help her. She got mad, stormed out to her car and apparently called me a few names to DH. I guess she didn't want help from the sheriff/knew she was drunk because she managed to get unstuck before he got to our house. So we called them so they could look for her, sadly to say she probably ended up in a ditch driving drunk lost in that snow storm. We saw her tail lights going the wrong direction. There is nothing open 24h anywhere close to us. So obviously we will now be locking the doors. But how creepy is that? Who walks into your house(theres no way she rang out doorbell, its super loud) and into your bedroom and wakes you up!?! Luckily neither of our kids were home, I cannot imagine how traumatized they would be by a stranger walking into our house during the night. DH and I say up for an hour, we were both too shook up to even sleep. Just crazy.

Wow! That would have scared me to death! Crazy woman!! Hope they found her before she killed someone...

Originally Posted by canadianbakers 31 weeks. Only 9 weeks left. Single digits! OMGoodness!!!

I am 33wks 3 days!! Still have lots to do though! Finally figured out how to get all 5 of mine in our van, so yesterday was spent @ church and Babies R Us trying out different car seats and boosters...now my back is killing me!
And the ladies @ church are having a shower for me, which is really sweet. I haven't had a baby shower since my 1st.

[sunnygirlmomof6]

I haven't had much time to catch up on all the posts...but AFM...
We finally got our BIG van and I LOVE it! We took a trip to Florida to visit family this past weekend and it was great to ba able to go somewhere as a family in ONE vehicle. LOL I will be 32 weeks wednesday and I am getting ready for baby, I just have a couple more purchases to make. That reminds me....I need ot call and see if our insurance will cover a new pump. I was told it might. Has anyone else had their insurance buy them a pump???

[MrsCrafty]

Originally Posted by sunnygirlmomof6 I haven't had much time to catch up on all the posts...but AFM... We finally got our BIG van and I LOVE it! We took a trip to Florida to visit family this past weekend and it was great to ba able to go somewhere as a family in ONE vehicle. LOL I will be 32 weeks wednesday and I am getting ready for baby, I just have a couple more purchases to make. That reminds me....I need ot call and see if our insurance will cover a new pump. I was told it might. Has anyone else had their insurance buy them a pump???

I was wondering about this too. Do they automatically cover it or do you need an RX from your Dr? I got one from my insurance for DS but I gave it to my sister who still needs it. I remember he wrote a rx saying I had flat nipples

[RunawayBunny]

A girl in the march ddc was able to get one paid for. I will send her a message and she if she can pop over and comment.

I do know that for all of us Tricare ladies... tricare is not subject to the affordable care act and they still only cover pumps (and i believe just rentals) for nicu stays.

[canadianbakers]

Originally Posted by Janelle Finally figured out how to get all 5 of mine in our van, so yesterday was spent @ church and Babies R Us trying out different car seats and boosters...now my back is killing me! And the ladies @ church are having a shower for me, which is really sweet. I haven't had a baby shower since my 1st.

and for a shower!

Originally Posted by sunnygirlmomof6 We finally got our BIG van and I LOVE it! We took a trip to Florida to visit family this past weekend and it was great to ba able to go somewhere as a family in ONE vehicle. LOL Has anyone else had their insurance buy them a pump???

for the big van!

Originally Posted by mommy2wyatt I was wondering about this too. Do they automatically cover it or do you need an RX from your Dr? I got one from my insurance for DS but I gave it to my sister who still needs it. I remember he wrote a rx saying I had flat nipples

To both of you - I haven't dealt with a pump personally, but I have heard that mamas need an Rx from their Dr for insurance to cover it. if it would go through otherwise.

AFM: Good appt this morning, other than having to wait a long while - I've gotten spoiled by my own OB, he's really almost always on time, barely any waiting time at all. I then have to wait at the lab, but that's not his control.
It sounds like all the OBs were running later today - mine is off, so any patients with appts this month would be seeing someone else, and then another OB was at the hospital.
On the plus side, I didn't have to wait at all at the lab today, lol.
Anyways, all is well... other than that # on the scale Ah well, I'll deal with that part in the coming year. My platelets are only down to 92 so far - I'll have to check my notes, but I think they were lower than that all ready with the boys. My hemoglobin is staying the same - it's good that it's not dropping, but the OB suggested to double the pills (2/day instead of just 1) and see if that makes a difference at my next appt.
Best part - he looked at my chart and noted that I am out of town, so he gave me 3 weeks til the next appt instead of 2 weeks Since all is looking fine, I'm happy with that. Probably it helps that he also noted "this is all "old hat" for you by now, eh?"

Now I just have to not think too much about how far along 2 more weeks will put me

[EmilytheStrange]

Originally Posted by mibarra Interesting. Maybe my last doc minimized the risks?? He talked about chance of uterine rupture (very small), and explained that could potentially be very bad, but also that they'd monitor me more closely. I guess what I would look at is the chance of something going catastrophicly wrong in VBAC vs. C-section if it's really bothering you. I know I second guessed myself more than once with mine, but I felt at the end like VBAC was the right choice, ya know? I guess for me I feel like there's always a small chance of something going horribly wrong, it's just life.

yeah, I'm still totally feeling at peace with this choice as opposed to a repeat csection, but well.. totally at peace isn't right.. I'm a rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions, but I am still leaning towards the vbac. I know, statistically, it's better for everyone. but when I talked to my doula last week, she asked me what my biggest fear was and I said 'that I will labor and then end up with a csection'. If I'm going to end up with a csection, let's just do it here on base, close to my house and DD. Not an hour away after hours of labor.

DD showed small signs of distress for most of my 20+ hours of labor, but they just monitored it. This video made it seem like they are not willing to accept any signs of distress and will very quickly move you to the OR.

Originally Posted by birdinhand I quoted the above because VBACs are more safe than not. We used to do VBACs all the time, and we didn't stop because things got catastrophic -- we stopped because liability insurance went up, and ACOG made a statement that a hospital could only offer VBAC if they had dedicated anethesia (24/7) available to their OB units. I have been to many VBACs as a doula, most at the hospital, and some at home. The biggest factor of success with a VBAC is having a practitioner who thinks you CAN VBAC -- studies have shown if a practitioner is on-board and positive and supportive, women have higher rates of VBAC success -- when a practitioner waffles or plants that seed of doubt, a woman's chance of successfully VBACing goes down. You absolutely can do this! I would encourage you to look for more positive VBAC stories and videos.

hi Stacie! welcome to the group!

and you are right.. it's just that now that seed has been planted. I was living in a bubble where vbacs were supported and possible and highly likely if the mom was committed. Now, I'm just scared that I won't perform well, I'll stall labor and I'll end up with another csection. I mean, that is exactly what I did with DD. I stressed and tensed (even though I knew better!) and I stalled labor.

luckily this time I have a doula.. but I have to figure out a way to relax. It is not in my nature :P

Originally Posted by dagmomma my Dr talked to me aboutmany of those things. But he gave me both the risks of a vbac and c/s so he was very calming about it. When I was in the hospital and a different Dr was on duty she came in right after my epi and ran through the list of problems there could be--which I knew already and when she left I turned to my nurse and said "she totally just killed my buzz!" The nurse just rubbed my back and said, "I know, you are going to be fine." It felt good bc I was really in a place that was supposrtive. They have to run down the risks of everything but in the end I stayed open minded, calm, and positive ad I got my VBAC.

teach me to stay calm and positive! I am a stressed out hypochondriac pessimist!!

Originally Posted by canadianbakers VBAC is not as dangerous and catastrophic as many (most, in the US) Drs make it out to be - and that sounds like how that video leans. If you like, this is the SOGC (canadian OBs etc.) standards/protocol for VBAC. It's much less scary than that video sounds, lol! Uterine rupture can be catastrophic, yes. But it truly is not common. And it isn't always catastrophic, either. Just because a VBAC isn't successful does not mean that mom had a rupture - it just means that, for many possible reasons, a c-sec was decided on as needed. Whether that was for failure to progress, fetal distress, etc. Emily - the bolded is what really bothers me, to be honest. Why in the world would your doula, someone who you are trusting in for complete support of your decisions, recommend watching something that would cast a negative light on your wants and cause you to have doubts? That doesn't make sense to me. I would bring it up and ask her about it, see what her response is. If she's not comfortable herself with VBACs, I would find another doula.

thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

my doula apologized - she said that's not how she reacted to the video at all. She's very supportive and has a high rate of doula-ing vbacs. but, you know everyone watches things and comes out with their own impression. That's just how I reacted.

I don't think anyone is supposed to watch that video and come out that way. I think you're supposed to focus on the 2 success stories and the statistics, not the 1 fail story and the flip side of the coin. I mean, it's pro-vbac propoganda. lol.. but you can generally count on me to focus on the other side.

I'm really just waiting to see if DH says anything. I don't really know what he's thinking. Neither of us had really factored in the whole 'mom and baby could die' portion of this. Which, yes, is a risk in a csection as well.

am feeling calmer today.
and a ton more volatile.
all at once.

[vonnief]

Originally Posted by sunnygirlmomof6 That reminds me....I need ot call and see if our insurance will cover a new pump. I was told it might. Has anyone else had their insurance buy them a pump???

I personally haven't filed for it yet, but I have started the process. 2 of my friends received their pumps and had insurance pay!

You have to call your insurance company and verify if they cover manual AND electric or JUST manual. I've heard of some insurance companies only covering manual. Most likely, you will need to purchase and pay out of pocket through a durable medical supplier (unless the durable medical supplier will claim on insurance, but many do not up front for the pumps). Submit claim with insurance company, get reimbursed! Many times insurance companies will also make you wait until you've either given birth or a few weeks before. Mine is making me wait. HTH!

[dagmomma]

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange teach me to stay calm and positive! I am a stressed out hypochondriac pessimist!!

Yeah that is usually me too but honestly I could not be. I was 7 months pregnant and we moved over 24 hrs away. Dhs company put us in a hotel for a month then we were in a rental for a month. My parents showed up exactly 24hrs before my water broke. I only had flats really bc my diapers were not moved yet lol!!!

I just had to make it work. The old me would have been a disaster but I had this really peacful calm feeling over me that it will all work out and it did. The day after I got out of the hospital we bought our house VERY STRESSFUL TIME!

I did yoga and when I could not do yoga I made sure I stretched and just breathed--like yoga or meditation breathes and as silly as it sound that got me thorough my labor a delivery! Oh and I never let a negative pop into my head. It was wierd but those feelings were NOT ALLOWED!

[dagmomma]

Oh and as for me I signed up for vi cord today. We did it with ds2 and dd. I did not do it with ds1 bc I really did not know much about it at the time.

It is silly bc I have done this 3 times and each time I sign up I am liked shocked at the price even though I get a discount LOL! The price didn't get higher.

I do have to decide though if we will bank tissue or not. DH and I have to discuss it.

[canadianbakers]

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange DD showed small signs of distress for most of my 20+ hours of labor, but they just monitored it. This video made it seem like they are not willing to accept any signs of distress and will very quickly move you to the OR. my doula apologized - she said that's not how she reacted to the video at all. She's very supportive and has a high rate of doula-ing vbacs. but, you know everyone watches things and comes out with their own impression. That's just how I reacted. I'm really just waiting to see if DH says anything. I don't really know what he's thinking. Neither of us had really factored in the whole 'mom and baby could die' portion of this. Which, yes, is a risk in a csection as well.

I don't think they would totally rush at the first sign of something amiss - unless things were pointing to a rupture, but there are quite specific signs of rupture.
They will want to have you on constant monitoring, and you will have to have an IV - likely you could fight those if you wanted to. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'll do this time, but with Levi I wasn't worried about it and just accepted it - at 11 days late, with all the worries and doubts in my mind, I was just happy that labor was going!

I'm glad she apologized, and if she didn't see that side of it, didn't intend for you to come away with that, then I can see why she recommended you watch it.

Honestly... a "normal", run-of-the-mill labor and delivery can be looked at as "mom and baby could die". A VBAC isn't that big a deal. Drs make it out to be, but it truly isn't.
Yes, you could labor and end up with another c-sec, but wouldn't you rather give yourself the chance? Yes, things could go terribly wrong and something could happen to mom or baby, but that can happen with any pregnancy, labor, or delivery.