Announcing...

Ruth Shear wrote:
G'day

oht nak 8-)

Madeleina Venus (7 lb 7 ozs, 19.25") was born by a natural VBAC on Sat
Nov 12th at 6:41 am after 3 hrs 20 mins of labor, including a speed
down the freeway

Wow :-D. Congrats and welcome baby Madeleina. Very pretty name. Hope you
are feeling better soon!

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
EDD 4/06

In article ,
Ruth Shear wrote:

Madeleina Venus (7 lb 7 ozs, 19.25") was born by a natural VBAC on Sat
Nov 12th at 6:41 am after 3 hrs 20 mins of labor, including a speed down
the freeway with my bum in the air trying not to push. No offense
elizabeth, but I had no desire for a car birth 8-)

She is beautiful of course, and had no problems other than a harried day
of phototherapy that resolved her bili levels faster than her ped would
believe (I know it was all the mummy milk I pushed on her during that
day). My milk came in on day 3 and we are nursing like pros.

I, on the other hand, have had major complications due to extensive
blood loss and am living on my couch with a hemocrit of 6-ish (should be
6 or 7 time higher). I was kept in the hospital till Tues night and have
only just started to get on top of stuff, specially since DS1 has been
home sick too.

I promise to write the birth story sometime soon, but the bottom line
was the birth itself, although fast and furious, was perfect! 8-)

DrRuth

Congratulations!!

I didn't have a big PPH this time myself (probably 500ml), but I felt like
sitting around for a fair while afterwards. Dunno if you can get FAB Iron
over there, but it has really helped me build up my iron, and without too many
unpleasant side effects.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

In article ,
Ruth Shear wrote:

I really did do bedrest for a week, and took things very easily for several
weeks, and absolutely needed to - I spent a lot of time feeling horribly
dizzy, that's the main thing I remember. Come my 8 week check I was feeling
fine again (tired, but not obviously more than other sleep-deprived new
mothers), but my Hb was still only 8.4.

Thanks for this - it gives me at least an idea of how long it could take
to recuperate. At the moment they are just telling me "weeks".

After DS1's birth (eclampsia with haemolysis and a PPH too), I felt OK once I
was home, but my haemoglobin didn't return to normal for 9 months. The
ferritin hit borderline normal at 18 months and just sat there. Yes, I eat
red meat, and yes, I was supplementing. Depends very much on your own
physiology, I think.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

In article ,
"Anne Rogers" wrote:

did you wish you had had one later? the majority of people I know who have
had PPH have initially been really against having a transfusion for whatever
reason, then have gone home and regretted it, those who have had a
transfusion have seemed much better, much faster. Having seen it happen to
quite a few people, I think if there was a doubt as to whether it was needed
or not, despite wanting to go home etc. I think I'd actually say pump the
stuff in, though I wouldn't have said that 2 years ago.

IIRC the hospital where I had DS2 will transfuse if your haemoglobin drops
below 6. Mine was 6.7 or something, so I missed out. The first time I had 2
bags transfused in, and really, I could have done with three. The problem is,
blood supplies are low, and I wasn't about to die.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

Anne Rogers writes:

[Sidheag wrote: - please, Anne, could you say whom you're quoting when you
quote?]
Yeah, sounds very like my experience. The midwife told me my 6.2 result,
and said "they'll want you to have a transfusion, and that'll mean
staying over another night". Since I'd transferred from a homebirth, had
only reluctantly stayed over one night, and knew that if I had to stay
another they wouldn't let DH stay with me, that was very bad news. They
sent the registrar down to talk to me, and to my surprise she was very
nice. Checked that I had no symptoms of impending fatality :-) and told
me that if I was able to walk out of the hospital she reckoned that was
a sign it was reasonable for me to do so. I did, though I had to stop
frequently to hold onto things!

did you wish you had had one later? the majority of people I know who
have had PPH have initially been really against having a transfusion for
whatever reason, then have gone home and regretted it, those who have
had a transfusion have seemed much better, much faster. Having seen it
happen to quite a few people, I think if there was a doubt as to whether
it was needed or not, despite wanting to go home etc. I think I'd
actually say pump the stuff in, though I wouldn't have said that 2 years
ago.

No, because of the fact that having a transfusion would have involved
another night's stay in hospital, and without my DH, which I would have
found very very difficult to tolerate (I hate hate hate hospitals). If that
factor hadn't been involved...? More difficult. I think no, still, in my
particular circumstances. (For example, including the fact that I knew I
had no other children to look after and that I would have several weeks of
lots of help at home, so that taking it easy was practicable.) I'm a bit
leery of blood products because I wonder what the next blood-transmissible
disease that they don't yet screen for is going to turn out to be. I'm not
aware of any particular risk of allowing one's blood to return to normal
gradually over weeks/months, apart from the obvious risk of not feeling too
good in the process, and I am aware of blood transfusion as a risk of
ending up with a disease. I've heard it said that being anaemic can
increase the chance of not having enough milk for the baby, but I've also
heard that contradicted. If that were true, I suppose it would be a risk of
not accepting the transfusion. FWIW, I had no such problem. (I've never
heard it cited as a reason for failing to let down for a pump despite
having good supply, before you ask, but that of course would be
interesting!)

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

Congratulations, and welcome, Madeleina!

Irene

In ,
Sidheag McCormack wrote:

*following a largish PPH, so I know how that feels, but I'm not completely
*convinced one can live with a haematocrit of 6%...

I've seen breathing, conscious puppies and kittens with hematocrits of
6ish... damn fleas.

--
Hillary Israeli, VMD
Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is
too dark to read." --Groucho Marx

"Ruth Shear" wrote in message
news
G'day

oht nak 8-)

Madeleina Venus (7 lb 7 ozs, 19.25") was born by a natural VBAC on Sat
Nov 12th at 6:41 am after 3 hrs 20 mins of labor, including a speed down
the freeway with my bum in the air trying not to push. No offense
elizabeth, but I had no desire for a car birth 8-)

She is beautiful of course, and had no problems other than a harried day
of phototherapy that resolved her bili levels faster than her ped would
believe (I know it was all the mummy milk I pushed on her during that
day). My milk came in on day 3 and we are nursing like pros.

I, on the other hand, have had major complications due to extensive
blood loss and am living on my couch with a hemocrit of 6-ish (should be
6 or 7 time higher). I was kept in the hospital till Tues night and have
only just started to get on top of stuff, specially since DS1 has been
home sick too.

I promise to write the birth story sometime soon, but the bottom line
was the birth itself, although fast and furious, was perfect! 8-)

Congratulations on a great birth and a new daughter! I hope you're feeling
better soon.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

Congratulations on the rapid arrival of Madeleina Venus!
I hope that your recovery continues to go well, and will be
interested to read the longer story.

IKWYM (from another thread) about the educational aspect.
I don't bring my kids on campus so much, but they tend to
be very evident (e.g., photos on the wallpaper of my laptop
which gets projected when I lecture from slides). I like
to think that by being visible about being a mom and a
professor I'm helping students imagine various ways of
balancing home & work life.

Emily
--
DS1 5/02
DS2 9/05

"Ruth Shear" wrote in message
news
G'day

oht nak 8-)

Madeleina Venus (7 lb 7 ozs, 19.25") was born by a natural VBAC on Sat
Nov 12th at 6:41 am after 3 hrs 20 mins of labor, including a speed down
the freeway with my bum in the air trying not to push. No offense
elizabeth, but I had no desire for a car birth 8-)

She is beautiful of course, and had no problems other than a harried day
of phototherapy that resolved her bili levels faster than her ped would
believe (I know it was all the mummy milk I pushed on her during that
day). My milk came in on day 3 and we are nursing like pros.

I, on the other hand, have had major complications due to extensive
blood loss and am living on my couch with a hemocrit of 6-ish (should be
6 or 7 time higher). I was kept in the hospital till Tues night and have
only just started to get on top of stuff, specially since DS1 has been
home sick too.

I promise to write the birth story sometime soon, but the bottom line
was the birth itself, although fast and furious, was perfect! 8-)

DrRuth

Wow! Congratulations! How does your son like his new little baby sis?

- Jen, momma to Laszlo and Lily