Not Long Now! (long post!)

Hi all )

I've been lurking here for months soaking up loads of information.
Most of what I know has come from this group. It's amazing.

I'm just posting now.. cos... well... I'm so close!!! 39 weeks 1 day.
It's my first baby and the estimated current weight is 9lbs 5ozs. Big
baby! I'm in the UK so this doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as
I've read on here it can be. The OB basically said no-one knows what a
woman can do in labour until she goes into labour and gave me an
appointment for 41 weeks to discuss induction if I haven't gone into
labour by then. I will be seeing the midwife before then of course.
And no internal exams yet either! The midwife has been coming round to
check my blood pressure a couple of times a week because it's higher
than it was, although not high enough to get worked up about.
Currently it's around 126/84. I'm not too worried about having a large
baby, there have been women at my mum's work who've had babies around
10lb with no problem and my own dad was 11lb 10oz! Of course these
were all later babies whereas this is my first so I don't know if that
will make a difference.

I'm babbling I know!! I'm nervous and not nervous and looking forward
to seeing my baby, but a bit scared and just... oh I don't know! I've
never had anything to do with babies! My brother (37) and sis (27)
don't have children and so far don't plan on it. My cousins on my
dad's side are all older, I have second cousins who have children
older than me! And only one cousin on my mum's side who I'm not close
to. My hubs is American and all his family is over there, but he's an
only child anyway and doesn't have much extended family either. So I'm
somewhat worried about the actual handling a baby aspect.

Also, I don't like hospitals, I don't like needles, I don't like
people looking at my nether regions. I'm planning on breastfeeding but
don't want to be getting my boobs out in front of people. Healthcare
people, that's fine. But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round? I'm large anyway and have enormous boobs normally so
I'll probably have to do that football hold which looks to me like it
would be harder to conceal your boob. All these things aren't things
I'd make a big fuss about, and I'm working on the assumption that I'll
be too distracted by things for them to bother me. But right now it
all feels very stressful.

I should shut up now. This is getting long and not really saying
anything I think. I'm excited and soooooo looking forward to seeing my
baby, and finding out if we're having a boy or a girl, but at the same
time there's so much going to happen that I've never experienced
before and it's starting to get to me.

If you read this far... Thank you )

Lindsay
EDD 16th March

On 10 Mar 2004 00:26:32 -0800, (Lindsay)
wrote:

But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round?

There is no let. You just do what you want. Pull the curtains and
feed your baby. The hospital staff will respect that they are closed,
and they will close them back after they come by your bed.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan and Leopold
See Jayan and Leo: http://www.aloofhosting.com/jayleo/
Updated 28 Feb 2004

On 10 Mar 2004 00:26:32 -0800, (Lindsay)
wrote:

Also, I don't like hospitals, I don't like needles, I don't like
people looking at my nether regions. I'm planning on breastfeeding but
don't want to be getting my boobs out in front of people. Healthcare
people, that's fine. But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round? I'm large anyway and have enormous boobs normally so
I'll probably have to do that football hold which looks to me like it
would be harder to conceal your boob. All these things aren't things
I'd make a big fuss about, and I'm working on the assumption that I'll
be too distracted by things for them to bother me. But right now it
all feels very stressful.

Lindsay (correct spelling! Hurrah!), whereabouts in the UK are you? I
am in West Yorks and the maternity ward basically had
labour/delivery/recovery rooms so we were 'private' all the time. No
whipping boobs in front of other mums. If you're on a bigger ward and
you're modest there is nothing to stop you pulling the curtain around
if that's what you want.

As for needles, they're not normally needed. I had an episiotomy so a
needle was involved to suture me afterwards - but I had a local
anaesthetic and the gas&air and didn't feel a thing, and didn't see
anything either, due to the baby being in the way! Most women don't
need an IV in labour, so don't worry too much about that. I had a
blood test the day after the birth to check I wasn't anaemic (I lost
enough blood for the midwife to be concerned) but that's not always
necessary either.

As for not liking people looking at your nethers, well, most of the
time they won't be, and when the baby's being born it isn't really
your nethers they're looking at, it's your baby (keep telling yourself
this, it might help!).

I'm glad you're doing okay and fingers crossed it all continues to go
well!
--
Linz
YB: 4.5 months, 16lbs 6oz

"Lindsay" wrote in message
om...
Hi all )

I've been lurking here for months soaking up loads of information.
Most of what I know has come from this group. It's amazing.


Hi Lindsay!

I'm babbling I know!! I'm nervous and not nervous and looking forward
to seeing my baby, but a bit scared and just... oh I don't know! I've
never had anything to do with babies! My brother (37) and sis (27)
don't have children and so far don't plan on it. My cousins on my
dad's side are all older, I have second cousins who have children
older than me! And only one cousin on my mum's side who I'm not close
to. My hubs is American and all his family is over there, but he's an
only child anyway and doesn't have much extended family either. So I'm
somewhat worried about the actual handling a baby aspect.

I was SO in your shoes when my daughter arrived. I had her at 35, and
hadn't changed a diaper since 1983. I knew NOTHING. But believe me,
babies are pretty easy to figure out. They're not quite binary, but almost.
If they don't like what is going on, they cry. So you rotate through
temperature/hungry/wet/tired/bored until you hit what they're upset about.
It's not that hard. You'll figure it out. If your hospital offers
"Baby TV" in your room, that might be a good idea to watch during your stay.
It's a quick refresher on baby care.


Also, I don't like hospitals, I don't like needles, I don't like
people looking at my nether regions. I'm planning on breastfeeding but
don't want to be getting my boobs out in front of people. Healthcare
people, that's fine. But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round? I'm large anyway and have enormous boobs normally so
I'll probably have to do that football hold which looks to me like it
would be harder to conceal your boob. All these things aren't things
I'd make a big fuss about, and I'm working on the assumption that I'll
be too distracted by things for them to bother me. But right now it
all feels very stressful.

I felt so much like you do. During my C-section I asked the surgeon to keep
the drape up high enough to cover the personal bits, which made her grin
"Donna, we've seen all this before, you know.", but she was cool with it
anyway. I hated exposing myself to nurse, too. But you have the right
idea - the whole delivery and newborn thing tends to be so overwhelming that
even if you notice all of that, you will most likely not be worrying about
modesty. And while I cannot speak for non-american hospitals, I can't
imagine that you won't be allowed some privacy to learn to nurse. Don't
hesitate to ask, ok?



I should shut up now. This is getting long and not really saying
anything I think. I'm excited and soooooo looking forward to seeing my
baby, and finding out if we're having a boy or a girl, but at the same
time there's so much going to happen that I've never experienced
before and it's starting to get to me.

Hang in there, Lindsay.

Donna

pull the curtains round if you want, I never gave it a thought beforehand,
but it turned out that I wanted the curtains open, I wanted to be able to
see out the window and not feel like I was being hidden away from the
world. My ds was a small baby and the first few days all he wanted to do
was sleep, so the midwifes had me lay him on my naked boobs, then they
covered me with a sheet and opened the curtains for me, so i could watch
the world passing by, whilst ds slept on for another few hours!

In article , Lindsay
writes

I'm babbling I know!! I'm nervous and not nervous and looking forward
to seeing my baby, but a bit scared and just... oh I don't know!

Sounds familiar. The last few weeks were a bit of a rollercoaster for
me. Excitement, anticipation, nervousness, uncertainty...but I forget it
all as I went into labour. Then I was high on adrenaline, and excited
between contractions at the start. Then I was just ...being.

I've
never had anything to do with babies! My brother (37) and sis (27)
don't have children and so far don't plan on it. My cousins on my
dad's side are all older, I have second cousins who have children
older than me! And only one cousin on my mum's side who I'm not close
to. My hubs is American and all his family is over there, but he's an
only child anyway and doesn't have much extended family either. So I'm
somewhat worried about the actual handling a baby aspect.

You'll be surprised how quickly it'll all come to you. When your baby is
crying, you just run through the list of what could be wrong, and try to
fix it. I think unless you've had a baby recently, most people are a bit
nervous the first few days, you certainly won't be alone. My husband
never had much to do with babies before our daughter was born, but he
was changing nappies like a pro before 48 hours was up!


Also, I don't like hospitals, I don't like needles, I don't like
people looking at my nether regions. I'm planning on breastfeeding but
don't want to be getting my boobs out in front of people. Healthcare
people, that's fine. But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round?

Just pull it round if that's what you feel comfortable with. Depending
on your hospital's layout, you might have a room to yourself or just
with one other person - I was in a room with 3 others but I pulled the
curtains when I was breastfeeding. It was more for the latching on
struggles at the start that I wanted privacy, when she was on, I had no
problem with visitors. The staff were very understanding and I did as I
liked. Have you had a chance to visit your hospital so you could get an
idea of what the rooms are like? It might make you feel a bit more
comfortable around the idea of hospitals too.

I'm large anyway and have enormous boobs normally so
I'll probably have to do that football hold which looks to me like it
would be harder to conceal your boob.

Just experiment, hopefully with hte help of a good midwife, you might be
surprised. I'm quite big-chested, and I started off feeding R lying
down, but with pillows I vary it quite a bit these days. You'll have to
see what you find most comfy.

All these things aren't things
I'd make a big fuss about, and I'm working on the assumption that I'll
be too distracted by things for them to bother me. But right now it
all feels very stressful.

This is true. Most probably, you'll be far too busy with the baby at the
start to worry about your modesty, but it's a worry now, and it's
helpful to think about what you will be able to do to minimise stress.
You may never need to have an IV - many women don't, and even if you
need a stitch or two afterwards, which you might not, you'll have your
baby to distract you. In my experience, midwives do try to preserve your
modesty as much as they can, not that it ever bothered me too much. I
reckoned they had seen it all before, and I had other things on my mind
;-)


I should shut up now. This is getting long and not really saying
anything I think. I'm excited and soooooo looking forward to seeing my
baby, and finding out if we're having a boy or a girl, but at the same
time there's so much going to happen that I've never experienced
before and it's starting to get to me.

That's the beauty of this group, you can post about the things you want
to know, and there's always someone to help. Hopefully the rest of your
pregnancy will be uneventful, and you'll have a good labour and birth.
And of course, if you want to post more, or ask anything - fire away.

--
Whirligig Witch

Lindsay wrote in message
om...
Hi all )

I've been lurking here for months soaking up loads of information.
Most of what I know has come from this group. It's amazing.

Hello!
I'm just posting now.. cos... well... I'm so close!!! 39 weeks 1 day.
It's my first baby and the estimated current weight is 9lbs 5ozs. Big
baby! I'm in the UK so this doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as
I've read on here it can be.
Which part of UK are you?

The OB basically said no-one knows what a
woman can do in labour until she goes into labour and gave me an
appointment for 41 weeks to discuss induction if I haven't gone into
labour by then. I will be seeing the midwife before then of course.
And no internal exams yet either!
You'll probably have one in labour as it's you're first. I avoided them
totally with #2.

The midwife has been coming round to
check my blood pressure a couple of times a week because it's higher
than it was, although not high enough to get worked up about.
Currently it's around 126/84. I'm not too worried about having a large
baby, there have been women at my mum's work who've had babies around
10lb with no problem and my own dad was 11lb 10oz! Of course these
were all later babies whereas this is my first so I don't know if that
will make a difference.

I'm babbling I know!! I'm nervous and not nervous and looking forward
to seeing my baby, but a bit scared and just... oh I don't know! I've
never had anything to do with babies! My brother (37) and sis (27)
don't have children and so far don't plan on it. My cousins on my
dad's side are all older, I have second cousins who have children
older than me! And only one cousin on my mum's side who I'm not close
to. My hubs is American and all his family is over there, but he's an
only child anyway and doesn't have much extended family either. So I'm
somewhat worried about the actual handling a baby aspect.

Our hospital does (a couple of times a day) things like showing you how to
bath a baby etc.

Also, I don't like hospitals, I don't like needles, I don't like
people looking at my nether regions. I'm planning on breastfeeding but
don't want to be getting my boobs out in front of people. Healthcare
people, that's fine. But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round?
Yes. Do it. If they object-do it anyway. Get the midwives to help bfing.

I'm large anyway and have enormous boobs normally so
I'll probably have to do that football hold which looks to me like it
would be harder to conceal your boob. All these things aren't things
I'd make a big fuss about, and I'm working on the assumption that I'll
be too distracted by things for them to bother me. But right now it
all feels very stressful.
It won't bother you! (or it never did me, which surprised me)


I should shut up now. This is getting long and not really saying
anything I think. I'm excited and soooooo looking forward to seeing my
baby, and finding out if we're having a boy or a girl, but at the same
time there's so much going to happen that I've never experienced
before and it's starting to get to me.

If you read this far... Thank you )

Debbie

"Lindsay" wrote in message
om...
Hi all )

I've been lurking here for months soaking up loads of information.
Most of what I know has come from this group. It's amazing.

I'm just posting now.. cos... well... I'm so close!!! 39 weeks 1 day.
It's my first baby and the estimated current weight is 9lbs 5ozs. Big
baby! I'm in the UK so this doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as
I've read on here it can be. The OB basically said no-one knows what a
woman can do in labour until she goes into labour and gave me an
appointment for 41 weeks to discuss induction if I haven't gone into
labour by then. I will be seeing the midwife before then of course.
And no internal exams yet either! The midwife has been coming round to
check my blood pressure a couple of times a week because it's higher
than it was, although not high enough to get worked up about.
Currently it's around 126/84. I'm not too worried about having a large
baby, there have been women at my mum's work who've had babies around
10lb with no problem and my own dad was 11lb 10oz! Of course these
were all later babies whereas this is my first so I don't know if that
will make a difference.

I'm babbling I know!! I'm nervous and not nervous and looking forward
to seeing my baby, but a bit scared and just... oh I don't know! I've
never had anything to do with babies! My brother (37) and sis (27)
don't have children and so far don't plan on it. My cousins on my
dad's side are all older, I have second cousins who have children
older than me! And only one cousin on my mum's side who I'm not close
to. My hubs is American and all his family is over there, but he's an
only child anyway and doesn't have much extended family either. So I'm
somewhat worried about the actual handling a baby aspect.

Also, I don't like hospitals, I don't like needles, I don't like
people looking at my nether regions. I'm planning on breastfeeding but
don't want to be getting my boobs out in front of people. Healthcare
people, that's fine. But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round? I'm large anyway and have enormous boobs normally so
I'll probably have to do that football hold which looks to me like it
would be harder to conceal your boob. All these things aren't things
I'd make a big fuss about, and I'm working on the assumption that I'll
be too distracted by things for them to bother me. But right now it
all feels very stressful.

I should shut up now. This is getting long and not really saying
anything I think. I'm excited and soooooo looking forward to seeing my
baby, and finding out if we're having a boy or a girl, but at the same
time there's so much going to happen that I've never experienced
before and it's starting to get to me.

If you read this far... Thank you )

Lindsay
EDD 16th March

I'm so glad to hear they aren't trying to scare you about a big baby. I had
two babies over ten pounds no problem. Number one I had an epidural and
number two totally natural (much better as far as recovery goes)! Pretty
easy births really. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I wanted any more
kids.

Put your foot down when it comes to privacy. Feeling comfortable is so
important when it comes to learning to feed.

As for feeling self concious. I was huge when I was pregnant 120kg or
something mad like that! I can tell you now when you are in labor modestly
is the last thing you think of! I kept a bra top and T-shirt on for most of
the time. I can remember sitting in our lounge in my bra and undies feeding
baby when he was a few days old and my Dad arrived. I didn't even care and
we are NOT that kind of family!

I hadn't a lot of experience with babies either and to be honest it wasn't
all instinct, it take a wee while to get the hang of things. I should also
add that I didn't feel instant love for either of my babies. It took a while
to develop. With the first one I was expecting to be head over heels and
when I wasn't it upset me quite a bit. With number two I was expecting it
and I really enjoyed taking the time to get to know him and fall in love :-)
Most Mums I know will say anything from "it was love at first sight" to "it
took six months before I felt really bonded" I wish I'd known that
beforehand!

Good Luck, I look forward to reading your birth story

Judy

Daye wrote in message . ..
On 10 Mar 2004 00:26:32 -0800, (Lindsay)
wrote:

But on the ward, I wonder if they'll let me pull
a curtain round?

There is no let. You just do what you want. Pull the curtains and
feed your baby.

You are so right! I'm not usually the type to think about what others
"let" me do. I need to give myself a good kick up the butt for even
thinking like this!

Linz wrote in message . ..

Lindsay (correct spelling! Hurrah!), whereabouts in the UK are you? I
am in West Yorks and the maternity ward basically had
labour/delivery/recovery rooms so we were 'private' all the time. No
whipping boobs in front of other mums. If you're on a bigger ward and
you're modest there is nothing to stop you pulling the curtain around
if that's what you want.

Woohoo! Another LINDSAY! We are a rarity! In my year at school there
was also a Linzi and a Linsey. The girls name we have picked out has a
different spelling than usual and my mum said she would have to keep
telling everyone how her name was spelt. I told my mum that she would
only have to go through what I've been going through all my life then!
;o)

I haven't visited the ward. I always thought I would, but to be honest
I handle situations better if I'm thrown into them and so I ultimately
decided against it because if there was something I didn't like I
would worry more. Besides, I would have had to go to the hospital when
not necessary and it takes guts to go when I do have to.

My mum was a nurse for 30 years, she says she wonders how she could
have had a child as pathetic as me ;o) Don't get me wrong, she's
great, but obviously she doesn't get the hospital thing. One of the
things I blame this on is that in Bradford the hospitals are so old. I
mean a converted Victorian workhouse does not inspire good feelings
about the whole hospital thing!

I'm in Lincolnshire but I'm actually from Bradford )


As for needles, they're not normally needed. I had an episiotomy so a
needle was involved to suture me afterwards - but I had a local
anaesthetic and the gas&air and didn't feel a thing, and didn't see
anything either, due to the baby being in the way! Most women don't
need an IV in labour, so don't worry too much about that. I had a
blood test the day after the birth to check I wasn't anaemic (I lost
enough blood for the midwife to be concerned) but that's not always
necessary either.

This is reassuring. I think I've been focussing on worrying about an
IV too much. I've learnt this pregnancy to handle blood being taken,
but I know there's an end to it. The thought of the needle being in
all the time... well my breathing is going funny just thinking about
it!


As for not liking people looking at your nethers, well, most of the
time they won't be, and when the baby's being born it isn't really
your nethers they're looking at, it's your baby (keep telling yourself
this, it might help!).

*lol* Yes, I'll keep telling myself that!

I'm glad you're doing okay and fingers crossed it all continues to go
well!


Thank you )

Lindsay
EDD 16th March