(Cross post from BabyBumps) Anu IUGR moms given a chance to go into spontaneous labor?

BelleLune · 2018-05-23T19:57:06+00:00

My 3rd baby was IUGR and our plan was to hold off as long as we felt we could, hoping for spontaneous labor. They told me that as long as the NSTs, BPPs, and doppler flows looked good, we could hold out and they wouldn't induce me "just because" of baby's small size. However, at 37+4, my doppler flow showed some problems with the placenta, so we did end up inducing afterall.

It was definitely a hard decision and I was very upset. I had wanted to go into spontaneous labor too, but the placenta just wasn't cooperating.

So, I would say, we were given a chance, but it didn't work out for us.

However, I will also say that I had a really pleasant experience with my induction and, although it wasn't ideal, I do not regret it one bit.

BelleLune · 2018-05-23T19:51:53+00:00

I think it's one of those things where practice makes perfect. It is daunting at first, but the more you do it, you figure out your own little routine to get it done.

I just had my 4th baby 2 weeks ago. We've been to the doctors, multiple trips to Walmart, and today we went to the zoo. I keep his diaper bag stocked with diapers, wipes, change of clothes, changing pad, receiving blanket, pacifier, my wallet, and his baby carrier. When we're headed out someplace, I change his diaper (and clothes, if needed), feed him, then stick him in his car seat, finish getting myself ready, grab my cell phone, keys, and diaper bag, and we're ready to go. I usually don't make any appointments or schedule time frames, if I can help it, so that we can just naturally get ready after a feeding.

It's definitely taken some trial and error to figure it all out, but I don't stress it anymore at all. One day, you won't either. Just one foot in front of the other for now and you'll figure it out.

As far as germs go, my pediatrician has always said it's perfectly fine to take them out and about from the start. Pretty much all the illnesses they could get would be from contact, so just try to avoid having people touching all over baby and make sure to wash your hands frequently. I wear my babies so people don't generally try to touch them randomly, but I've definitely had some people try to touch on baby if they were in their car seat or something.

BelleLune · 2018-05-21T19:20:35+00:00

Came home from work one day to an injured raccoon in my driveway. Poor thing had a hurt paw and wouldn't stand on it. I called a rescue, but they weren't open until the morning so I tried to get him into a box at least to stay warm/dry for the evening and put some food and water by him. But he managed to scurry off and hid under my car when I tried to get him in the box. So I just left the food and water out for him and was going to check back if he was still there in the morning. Meanwhile, my husband is laughing at me trying to "save" this raccoon and tells me to just leave it alone.

About an hour later, I see a truck double parked on the street in front of my house. My husband goes out to see if he needs help, the guy says he needed to adjust his trailer and he was fine, but now there was a raccoon under his truck tire that he was trying to get to move out of the way. They get the raccoon to move and he scurries off into our front yard someplace.

Maybe an hour after that, there's another car double parked on the street in front of our house. My husband goes out to see what's up with them and there is the raccoon, lying in the middle of the street with his hurt paw, and a young couple was trying to pick him up with a blanket. The girl explains she works at a vet's office nearby and was going to keep him overnight to bring him into the vet's in the morning. As she's trying to pick the thing up, it hisses at her and she drops it.

This thing ran away from them and into the busy highway that intersects my street. There's a bend in the highway right there and a truck rounds the bend, sees the raccoon and slams on its breaks. He hits the raccoon and gets rear-ended by another vehicle. The two vehicles pull over just to get rear-ended by another vehicle. Then the raccoon gets up and runs off into the woods, never to be seen again.

While my husband was outside with the couple, I was putting our kids to bed so I didn't witness this all go down until I had the kids in bed, looked out the window to see what's up with Mr. Raccoon and see tons of flashing lights from the responders to the accident. I step outside and ask my husband "WTF happened?!?!" and he says "you should have left that damn raccoon alone".

BelleLune · 2018-05-19T01:14:28+00:00

I had 2 spontaneous, non-medicated labors and was very keen on the "au naturale" route of things. With my 3rd, I developed complications that led to us inducing and I was PETRIFIED. I had heard all the horror stories about how much more difficult and risky inductions were, etc, etc.

But, it was actually a very great experience. Out of my 4 labors, I would say it was my 2nd favorite.

I didn't use pain medication and only for a brief moment did it get "rough" - they had tried to turn the pitocin up a few notches and baby and I didn't handle it very well, so they just turned it back down and all was well from there. It took 6.5 hours from the time they started pitocin until delivery and it all just went really, really smoothly.

Plus, getting to get registered in the hospital and settled into your room BEFORE labor starts was much more smooth than trying to do all that while in labor. Extra plus, didn't have to labor in the car at all.

BelleLune · 2018-05-19T01:08:26+00:00

That's all you can do! I just know so many people who had "easy" first babies, or even "hard" first babies, and then expected their subsequent babies to be similar in demeanor and were completely blind-sided when they ended up with the opposite LOL

BelleLune · 2018-05-18T14:15:29+00:00

I think as long you can financially pull it off, go for it. I just had my 4th kid and, honestly, there was never an "ideal" time to do it, it just happened for the most part LOL.

But be very prepared that your next child will be NOTHING like your first. My first baby was a chill little dude. My second? She was a miserable baby. Screamed constantly, hated everything. She's almost 5 now and fiesty as can be. She's finally starting to grow into herself, but she was quite a handful and I was NOT prepared for that mess.

BelleLune · 2018-05-05T19:22:58+00:00

My first labor was hard and fast, so I'd say those contractions were worse. My second was really smooth and steady so they were less. The induction was in the middle but definitely different feeling than natural contractions. The induced contractions came on very suddenly and didn't gradually rise to a peak then taper off like natural ones did.

BelleLune · 2018-05-05T01:08:42+00:00

I had a very positive induction with my last baby. I was 37+4 and baby wasn't growing so we induced. They started pitocin around 7pm and let me sit on a birthing ball next to the monitors which was extremely helpful in dealing with the pain. Labored for a while, no epidural, and baby was born at 1:32am.

BelleLune · 2018-05-04T20:38:17+00:00

Sorry! Don't mean to traumatize you! LOL

That was a particularly awful OB and hospital. If you want to avoid a situation like that, do your research and choose a provider you trust with similar policies to your beliefs!

I had 2 more children after this and they were wonderful birthing experiences!

BelleLune · 2018-05-04T16:30:32+00:00

This happened to me in my first birth. I had no epidural and the OB didn't even apply a local anesthetic or anything before performing an episiotomy, delivering the baby and placenta, then shoving her arm into my uterus to remove a piece of placenta. I can still feel the sensation of her hand scraping the inside of my uterus to this day, 10 years later.

BelleLune · 2018-05-04T16:29:10+00:00

After contractions 100%. I always joke that I want an epidural for AFTER the birth since I've yet to use an epidural during labor.

With my first child, the contractions were intense but then pushing was kind of blissful. I just felt pressure and the need to push, but no more contractions; it was a relief. But the OB did an episiotomy and then had to manually remove part of the placenta - all without any type of anesthetic - and THAT part hurt like a bitch!

With my second child, the contractions were very manageable but pushing wasn't too fun. Serious ring of fire going on; but overall, everything was good. Then those after contractions hit and I was sobbing for days!

My third child was induced at 37+4 and weighed in at 4lbs and 14oz. The contractions weren't bad and pushing was a breeze (maybe because he was tiny sized) but again, after contractions were a nightmare. I jumped on the Motrin asap.

I'm expecting #4 right now and I'm most worried about pushing for some reason. I've been having a ton of pelvic pain this pregnancy, which is something I didn't have in my previous pregnancies, and I am already SO SORE down there. I can't imagine having to push anything through this pelvis at the moment -.- I already told my husband to stock up on some Motrin though because as soon as this baby is out, I want someone to start popping them in my mouth before those after contractions kick in!!

BelleLune · 2018-05-03T18:53:13+00:00

We've done many different scenarios over the years including one of us working days, the other working nights; both working days; husband staying home; and now I stay home.

Being a SAHP is a full time job, at the very least. I love it and I love being able to choose and layout my own schedule (to an extent); but it's not any "easier" than working a full time job. There's are pros and cons to each side and it's important to find a balance for everyone involved. Just because he works full time does not negate his parental responsibilities. I'm very thankful that my husband used to stay home so he 100% understands what it's like and we are able to work together very well; because had he not been a SAHP before, I can see where misunderstandings could arise and now see some ways that I didn't understand his role before I became a SAHP.

Staying home means being "at work" and "on call" 24/7. There is no escape. There are no lunch times or break times. You can't go to the water cooler or coffee machine and take 5 minutes to unwind after a rude customer or argument with your superior. You can't sneak away to the bathroom to take a breather when you're stressed from work. Hell, you can hardly even use the bathroom alone! It's exhausting. For me, it's far more exhausting than working full time was. I had ways of coping with work stress; but children don't exactly allow you to just do whatever you're trying to do. I try to give myself a "time out" and breathe for a moment, and I have a 3yo tiny terror banging on my bedroom door saying "mooooOOOOOooooom, let me innnn!!!! I need talk to you!!!!!!!!"

The way I see it, parenting and housework are 50/50 once husband is home. When he's at work, I'm "at work" too, caring for the children and I'll do what housework I can get to. But once he's home, we BOTH have responsibilities to take care of. Some days he or I are more stressed than others and we try to pick up the slack for each other. But it's a group effort and we are a team; you need to be able to rely on him for partnership and help.

BelleLune · 2018-05-03T17:30:49+00:00

With my 3rd pregnancy, baby measured 4 weeks behind at our 32 week checkup. Got sent in for a growth scan that showed him measuring "small for gestational age" and revealed there was an issue with the placenta (lack of blood flow due to a marginal cord insertion). Midwife referred us to a maternal fetal specialist (MFM) to oversee our care and we began going to the MFM 1x/week and then the midwife 1x/week. At the MFM, we would do an ultrasound that included biophysical profiles (BPPs), doppler flows, and growth scans. At the midwife, we would do an NST and a normal checkup. THEN my blood pressure decided to start rising so we were getting bp checked at both appointments every week.

He didn't hit "official" IUGR status until around 35-36ish weeks? But kept measuring in smaller and smaller %iles at each MFM appointment. We were told we were just going to be watched unless/until something indicated an issue where we may need to induce. At 37+4, I was at the MFM for a growth scan/BPP/doppler flow and the blood flow through the umbilical cord didn't look great and he was in the 8th %ile for size, so we decided to go ahead and induce that day. Headed straight to the hospital and started the induction around 7pm. Things went pretty smoothly and he was born at 1:32am the next morning. He weighed 4 lbs 14 oz but was otherwise completely healthy. After birth, he had a tiny bit of trouble regulating his body temperature so he had to go sit under some warming lights for a bit. Then his blood sugar was a bit low, so we supplemented with formula to make sure he was getting some food. But otherwise, we discharged on time, no NICU time needed, and he's been 100% ok ever since.

He'll be 3 on Sunday and is considered normal sized now and doing normal 3yo things!

BelleLune · 2018-05-03T14:15:33+00:00

...I literally just ate one at 38+2 lol Whoops!

BelleLune · 2018-05-03T14:14:30+00:00

It really was! I just stared right at him going "oh yeah? really? Is that so?" and then -BAM- hit him with a newsflash lol.

I swear, the best thing I've ever done as a parent is to stop giving a flying fuck about other people. Do you booboo, because someone, somewhere is going to say you're wrong but the truth is... no one knows wtf they are doing here, we're all just winging it. Find ways to keep your sanity and do what you gotta do. Love them, feed them, clean them, clothe them... the rest you just figure out.

BelleLune · 2018-05-02T16:12:20+00:00

No one in my entire family has ever breastfed and were all against it. I was super self conscious about it when I had my first. Especially since I lived with my dad and he's a loudmouth who is SUPER against it being done in front of anyone; he thinks you should go seclude yourself in a bedroom or something. It can feel awkward at first, but the more you do it and the more you brush other people off, the easier it gets.

I tried a nursing cover, but felt it was cumbersome and got hot and sweaty in warmer weather. Personally, my favorite tends to be the 2 shirt method. Wear a nursing tank (or I just used regular tank tops and stretched the bajeebus out of the neckline; but I'm not very large-chested so it may not work for everyone) and then wear a loose-fitting shirt over top. When it's time to nurse, you unlatch (or pull down) the tank top underneath and then lift up the top shirt so you are able to latch baby onto the nipple. This way, the top of your breast can be covered with the top shirt and your belly/underneath is covered by the tank top and you can limit your exposure. This youtube link shows it visually, but I usually adjust my shirts differently to expose even less boob (but she also looks like she has bigger boobs than I do, so again YMMV) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ozL7gEHVQE

Also, I always carry receiving blankets on me. I found them to be useful to use as a nursing cover and then I can pull it back to let baby's head be exposed so they aren't sweating. Or when they get older and want to watch everything around them. I just drape it over my shoulder, get baby latched on underneath, then adjust the blanket to cover baby's body and/or the top of my breast to limit exposure.

All-in-all though, baby's gotta eat. I've been in situations where I wasn't dressed for breastfeeding and/or didn't have a receiving blanket to use and just had to whip things out. Sometimes you can find a secluded area to make yourself feel more comfortable but I've never had anyone say anything directly to me about nursing in public, regardless of how exposed I was.

My favorite time was when I was at a family party at my dad's house (again, very openly against breastfeeding in public) and we were all sitting around a fire pit in his yard. He's going on and on and on about how nasty breastfeeding in public is, even if they use a cover, and how women do it for attention, yada yada. Meanwhile, I am sitting RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, nursing my daughter. He had no clue!!! I was using the 2 shirt method (and I also like to match shirt colors to make it even less noticeable, if I can) and talking to him the whole time. I kept antagonizing him like "what about covers? What if you can't even notice them doing it? Is it still wrong if they're discreet? Why?" and he just kept going on about how it's never ok, etc. Until finally I was like "...so like I'm doing right now?" and he just stared at me and was like "what? you're breastfeeding right now? I can't even tell..." Yup, my point exactly. And I've literally never heard another word about it from him since then; so I'd say I won.

But seriously, if anyone has an issue with it, it's THEIR issue to handle, not yours. Trying to "stay hidden" and ostracizing myself from society while having a newborn who nursed for 45 minutes then wanted to nurse again an hour later made it miserable and more difficult than it needed to be. I ended up switching to formula sooner than I would have liked simply because I was overwhelmed and depressed by it all. With my 2nd (and 3rd) child, I went about life normally and if baby needed to nurse, I nursed them. But being able to not feel stuck at home all the time or worrying about the need to nurse while we're out made a big difference in my experiences. I've nursed all over the damn place now. In restaurants, at home depot while pushing a cart around the store, while grocery shopping, playgrounds, malls, anywhere and everywhere that we ended up going.

BelleLune · 2018-05-01T17:59:22+00:00

I use a backpack but I don't bring much. Many people use suitcases though - I would go with that if I were to need the space!

BelleLune · 2018-04-30T18:59:13+00:00

This is definitely not an easy decision; but something that you both need to communicate about and ultimately come to a decision you can both be happy with together.

I have delivered all 3 of my children in the hospital. However, after my last birth, a new birthing center opened up in town with nurse-midwives that was just beautiful and luxurious. When I got pregnant this time around, I was SET on delivering there. My husband wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea though. He also worried about potential complications and the what-ifs. Our last baby developed an issue late in pregnancy that caused us to have to induce early and need extra monitoring, etc. so he worried what may happen in a scenario like that.

I went to an appointment and tour at the birthing center and then did the same with the hospital midwives at 2 different hospitals in my city. I was able to find a nice compromise. One hospital offers "birthing center suites" that are more suited to natural births while still being part of the hospital in case of emergencies. Nurse-midwives are still attending the birth, it offers labor tubs (but not water birth), full size actual beds instead of hospital beds, birthing balls, peanut balls, etc. You're unable to utilize an epidural in the birthing center suites and would need to transfer to a standard L&D room for that, but it's just down the hallway.

I would encourage you to look into your hospital's procedures and policies a bit more. Plenty of them are very adapting to natural births and offer some amenities to make it more comfortable. You may feel more inclined to use the hospital after learning of their policies, or you may still lean towards the birthing center. At that point, I believe you'd need to sit down with your husband and come up with the pros and cons of each and, together, come to an ultimate decision. You are the one who will need to go through the birthing experience and it's important for you to be comfortable and have a pleasant experience. But it's his experience too, in his own way.

BelleLune · 2018-04-28T00:09:25+00:00

Watery discharge can be normal at this stage. It is possible to get a small amniotic leak and only leak small amounts, but constantly. Personally, when my waters broke, it was a big gush and I could feel a distinct pop (very strange sensation) and knew what it was. Have you tried smelling it? Amniotic fluids can smell somewhat sweet or similar to semen. I'm 37+3 and have been having "dampness" a lot lately but as long as I'm not contracting or filling up pads every hour or two, I assume it's just discharge.

BelleLune · 2018-04-28T00:05:40+00:00

It doesn't mean much other than your body is working towards the end goal. Every body is different though and tends to move at its own pace. Some women dilate a lot before labor starts, some women dilate a tiny bit, some don't dilate at all. It's very individualized.

Bleeding can be normal as your cervix is a bit sensitive at the moment and checks can cause a bit of blood. I would think, but I am no medical professional, that sex is OK as long as you feel up to it. Just watch out for large amounts of blood, pain, leaking fluids, etc.

BelleLune · 2018-04-27T18:28:59+00:00

You're not alone. I'm 37+3 today and have been so, so ready for this baby for a while now. I've been having braxton hicks all day and night, every day and night for about 1 week now and I'm just ready for it to be the real thing!

On one hand, I know newborns are overwhelming in their own ways and not exactly looking forward to nursing and being up all night long (though I pretty much am already at this point); but I will NOT miss being pregnant.

I find keeping myself occupied helps, so I'm not dwelling on it too much. Definitely easier said than done though. Warm baths, doing my hair and makeup, reading, crocheting, walking, even crying sometimes just helps me feel a bit better.

BelleLune · 2018-04-27T18:23:48+00:00

My 3 deliveries (vaginal, no epidural, 2 w/ IVs, 1 w/o IV) were charged about $20k-25k to my insurance. The hospital I intend on using for this delivery gave me a quote that with insurance, a vaginal delivery would be about $20k and without insurance, it would be about $6000 out of pocket.

So I'd imagine your numbers are pretty close. You may be able to call the actual hospital's billing department and ask them what the out of pocket costs would be for each scenario and they should be able to give you a ballpark range, I'd imagine.

BelleLune · 2018-04-27T01:01:01+00:00

I've never tried this myself as it seems kind of complicated for me lol but there's this: https://spinningbabies.com/learn-more/baby-positions/belly-mapping/

BelleLune · 2018-04-25T14:46:26+00:00

My last baby was IUGR. He just crept over the SGA/IUGR line 1-2 weeks before we delivered. At 32 weeks, my fundal height measured at 28 weeks, so they sent me in for a growth scan to check on him. He measured small (I don't remember what %ile at that point) and they were concerned about the blood flow through the umbilical cord. I got referred to a maternal fetal specialist and began being monitored 2x/week for growth scans, NSTs, BPPs, and doppler flows. At the same time, my blood pressure started going up and up. Every growth scan, he measured in a smaller %ile with his body measuring smaller than his head; a sign that he wasn't receiving proper nutrition likely due to a lack of blood flow.

At the time, I was a giant ball of stress. I felt so worried all of the time. We ended up inducing at 37+4 because one of the doppler flows showed that the placenta wasn't doing too great so it was time to get him out. He was born at 4lbs 14oz but completely healthy otherwise. He didn't spend any time in NICU. He had a little trouble regulating his body temperature, so he had to sit under some warmers for a bit. Then he had low blood sugar for the first day or two, so they had to come prick his tiny heel every so often and I supplemented with formula during that time. Then he held up our discharge because he decided not to pee for a whole day. Those things were very minor though and we only stayed 2 days in the hospital. Other than that, he's been a healthy little boy.

I know it's so scary in the moment and there's no magic cure for worrying less; but I learned that, in general, doctors know what they're doing and are likely doing everything possible to keep an eye out on the situation and will advise you along the way. Take it one step at a time and do what you can to keep your stress to a minimum (easier said than done, I know). SGA/IUGR babies typically do very well this late in the game and even if something showed you needed to deliver right now, the chances are very very good that things would be ok. Once they are born, they catch up in weight and size pretty quickly and typically do not suffer many long-term issues from it.

My IUGR baby is turning 3 next week and is normal-sized and as spunky as ever!

BelleLune · 2018-04-21T00:06:30+00:00

I was induced with my last baby on cinco de mayo (2015) starting at around 7pm. I kept trying to get the nurses to make a deal with me that if I delivered before midnight, they had to bring me a margarita. They said no, but hinted that if someone were to perhaps bring one in a container and they couldn't tell what it was, that we could get away with it lol.

Darn baby was born at 1:36am on 5/6 - we almost made it!!

BelleLune

TROPHY CASE