How long after giving birth with no complications with mom or baby do you stay in hospital?

Hey Everyone :) i havent been able to get on for a while becuase my interenet crapped out... I looked through the recent entries and didn't find anything, so I hope I'm not reposting something that was just talked about, if so, I'm sorry! I have always said that on my 21st New Years I would go to New York and bar hop and watch the ball drop in the city. Obviously I won't be bar hopping any time soon, so my boyfriend and I have decided to wait on the trip to NYC. I was wondering if anyone had any cute ideas that you and your SO were doing for New Years Eve... a little late for planning, I just figured I would ask what the other pregnant ladies were doing :) Happy New Years in advance! :) 

First, has anyone used the Summer Soothing Baby Spa and Shower? Or at least I think that's what it's called. I just received one in the mail from my little sister and brother's girlfriend as a late Christmas present and I'm totally excited about it so I wan to know other's experiences with it? I realize it's not all necessary but I don't mind that :).

Second, my husband and I have been wanting to adopt a dog. We've searched and searched and finally found one at a shelter but the owner claimed it on the last day so we didn't get to take it. We've kept searching, came close to adopting another one but decided not to.

Yesterday we fell in love with a litter of 8 week old puppies. I really didn't want a puppy because I'd have to train it. My husband wanted one but decided against it for the same reason. Now we're seriously considering getting one.

I've had pets all my life, even did rescue before we moved here. I've raise puppies and trained them as well as dogs. I worked in an animal hospital until I got pregnant so I know what it takes to care for one. I know I can do it, I'm just really hesitant. People give me the whole "baby might be allergic", but we'll deal with that if she is. I'm not worried about aggression until I have a reason to be, and these puppies have no signs of it and neither do their parents.

So I guess what I'm asking is... Was your first child significantly harder because you had a puppy at the same time? The usual reasons aren't my main concern, like "you won't give your dog enough attention".

Any experiences? I would elaborate more but just got a strong desire to vaccuum so I'm going to do that instead :).

Hi all, I'm wondering if you can give me some advice about brands/types of co sleepers that you'd recommend.

I'll be breastfeeding my son and want to co sleep with him, but our bed's a little crowded as it is (long,tall husband and long, tall, big-bellied me). I'd love to get a bigger bed, but our room is oddly shaped and won't accommodate a king sized bed. My solution is a co sleeper, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on something my son - who is not likely to be small - will outgrow in 6 months.

What kinds of co sleepers have worked for you? What brands are good quality/value?

TIA!

x posted

So, I searched the tags, but couldn't find anything right away. Beign sick and having baby brain didn't help in the searching process, haha.

Anyway, I've had a history of throat problems since childhood (bronchitis, strep, tonsilitis, etc.), and would often become ill with them several times a year, and more often than not, they would turn into ear infections. As I grew older, my immune system decided to kick in, and the sicknesses came less frequently.

So far, I have managed to keep from getting sick past a cold through this pregnancy, but I'm getting my butt kicked now. Very sore throat, very sore tonsils, coughing, mucous, pain near the ears, etc., and difficulty breathing, which is already a pain due to asthma. So I'm assuming I've got a basic throat infection, with no fever yet to speak of.

My problem is, I don't have health insurance, aside from covering the baby and the pregnancy. I'm trying to avoid going to the doctor, as we can hardly afford it, and I already have an E.R. bill that is about $1,800 that we're struggling to pay off on top of everything.

What I'm doing now is drinking tons of water, eating cough drops, and consuming vitamin C like a mo-fo, but staying under 2,000 mg a day. Is there anything else I can do to avoid going to the doctor, or would it be safer to just go? Aside from the throat, I'm feeling pretty active and cheery, so I guess that's a good sign, haha.

Thanks in advance. =]

22w6d

I dont want my mother around (in the delivery room) during active labor. I dont mind if she is there when I am not pushing, but other than that, I would like her to wait in the waiting room, along with everyone else.

She seems very upset about this. Advice, stories, please?

Hi ladies! DH and I are going to continue TTCing after about 6 months of being away from it, and I still have some of my prenatal vitamins left over from earlier this year. I took a look at them the other day, but the expiry date is not there. I don't know if it's warn off from being in my purse, or if it's just never been there (At first I thought it was from being in my purse, but now I'm not so sure.) Does anyone know how long prenatals last for? I've had these since about February-March last year, do you think they'll still be ok? They are the Jameson Brand (Possibly only a Canadian brand?)

TIA!

Hi everyone. I've got a belated labour/birth and hospital stay story here. It's very long. And I wouldn't read if you don't want a horror story! Pretty much, in brief, I was all set to have a natural birth after a natural (yet long) labour. But it all went pear shaped near the end and ended up in a caesarean section which was literally my worst nightmare. It might be a little 'familiar' as it's straight out of my personal LJ. It's all under a cut. If you want to skip to the end, there are photos!

( Story. )

Thanks everyone for all your help over this past year.

Edit: Can I get the 'doctor/midwife is an ass' tag removed? I find it a little disrespectful given that my caregivers weren't 'asses'. Thanks!

There is a fantastic discussion going on at Free Range Kids about the exaggerated fears surrounding pregnancies today: http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/.

I've been involved in this conversation, and am considering starting an additional blog along these lines. Would there be interest in such a site?

EDIT: Didn't realize that someone had already linked to this post earlier in the day! Sorry for posting it twice.

Should i go to the ER today? My sevear heartburn was the beginning of what my hubby got over -- the stomach flu. hit me late last night and ive basically lost count the number of times ive projectial vomited. I have sevear liquid poos too. Cant even suck on ice chips to get water bc i throw up again.... Im dry heaving nothing now.


Im thinking an IV might be needed to get hydrated again....

34 weeeks and some change.

Has anyone had high blood pressure through out the pregnancy that was NOT pre-eclampsia related? What did your doctors do/say to you? I ask because my BP has been a little high (mid 130s-140/80s) through out most of my second and third trimester (I am now 34w4d), and I even got my blood tested for pre-eclampsia once around 25 weeks (which came back neg).

I seriously hate getting my blood pressure taken cause I always get nervous and then a look from the nurse (not always the same every time) after she takes it, and a "Have you been feeling okay? No headaches? No blurred vision? Your feet are swollen" and I'm like, "yes I'm fine..no, no headaches, vision is fine, yes my feet are swollen, but I'm a teacher on my feet all day and I'm not able to always sit with them raised."

I went last week on the 23rd for a UTI very last minute and the doctor who I was able to see with short notice, who I have never seen before, was *surprise surprise* worried about my BP. She said that she wants to give it a week, and if it's still too high, I need to get blood work done again. I mean, that just stresses me out even more which probably isn't good for my BP!!!! So I have the regular 2-week check up tomorrow and I plan on lounging around the house all day (yay winter break for teachers) and just sitting with my feet up, eating NOTHING with salt (sooo hard) and just hoping for the best!! But is it possible, just maybe possible, that I just have high blood pressure and that's it? I mean, my appointments are always right after school after working all day with students that can definitely stress me out. I should also mention that pre-pregnancy my BP has been normal.

Any thoughts?

Seriously I can't do anything right... I was supposed to be sick for the first few months but NEVER was, I figured "yay I'm a not-sick pregnant woman!" Then suddenly when I hit 12 weeks I started getting occasional waves of nausea. Not often, every five days or so, and usually if I'd been bad about eating & let my stomach get empty. Then "every 5 days" turned to "every 3 days" and so on... now I'm at 16W4D and it's happening more than once a day.

I'm usually up moving around doing something, and suddenly I HAVE to sit down, get a drink of water, breath deep because it hits me like bricks. I start coughing and my mouth waters and jaw tenses up and I think I'm gonna yak, but I usually don't. Oh until today in the car, we were rolling along the highway and it hit me and there was no water to drink and the road was bouncy and no deep breathing helped. Good thing I was in the passenger seat because I just lost it. I felt terrible, and now some poor highway worker is going to find a lot of vomit on the side of the road... husband had to pull over, partially because he thought it was a good idea and partially because he was gonna throw up too just listening to me. sorry if that was totally gross. Anyway after that I felt pretty good, we still went to the health club to work out as intended.

But I'm totally confused by the timing on all this. I lost weight my first trimester because I just couldn't keep up with my metabolism, now I'm just getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight and my appetite has actually decreased because eating a big meal makes me uncomfortable. Maybe I was just supposed to be sick the whole time? I have a family history of late babies... maybe my morning sickness is a month late because the whole baby is gonna be a month late? oh who knows. even if you don't have advice I'll take sympathy comments.

From Lenore Skenazy (who I LOVE!): Driven Crazy by Pregnancy Perfectionists (Especially On The Web!)

Has anyone else felt this way?

I saw my doctor today. Apparently I passed my 1hr test, and I'm so flipping glad. I'm also very proud because that means all my hardwork at controlling my levels has payed off. Yes!

She knows I want to do a natural birth and that I have always denied any unnatural prescription she's recommended me (vitamins as opposed to medicine, for example). Today I mentioned to her that I wanted to write out a birth plan. She was fine with it, told me to bring it in to discuss it with her and then to the hospital I will be delivering at to discuss it with them.

Then she said something I thought was kind of crappy. She mentioned that birth plans aren't how things will actually go, that a completely natural birth is only idealistic. I thought this was such crap. She mentioned that midwives will support things like no IV but that she wouldn't because of too many risk factors. I told her I wanted all the monitoring to be strictly limited and I did NOT want to be hooked up to anything, as long as everything was going well. She mentioned that that wouldn't be possible if something went wrong.

...Uh, duh? I know she has good intentions and she's honestly just the type of doctor that wants to be as safe as possible. She wouldn't push pain meds on me and she wouldn't pressure me into an avoidable c-section. She does support her version of a natural birth, but I want MINE.

I don't see any problem with everything I'm asking of in my birth plan (or what I've decided to ask) so I am going to discuss it with the hospital too, just so I don't go in to my next OB appointment and hear "I believe the hospital has a policy against that" nonsense.

She probably sounds like a horrible doctor, but I swear she's not. I switched several times before I found her. Now all I have to do is get her to see me eye to eye and she will be flawless. It doesn't help that my husband is scared as heck and will be going with whatever she says out of undeniable fear, lol.

Did anyone keep to their exact birth plan? The absolute MOST important part to me is that she gets set directly onto my chest as soon as she is born and never leaves the room. This is not impossible, I've heard it happen so many times. I swear I will raise hell if they try to take her away from me. Ahhhh, I can't think of anything more upsetting!

EDIT-

I realize now that I didn't make this clear, but I do not have ANY problem with going against everything in my birth plan if it is necessary for my baby to be healthy. If I have to be monitored, I will be. However, I would want to wait until I have to- not be hooked to machines the entire time because I MIGHT have to be later.

My ultimate goal is not to get the birth I want, I want a happy and healthy baby much more than I could ever want my idea of a "perfect" birth.

Just thought it would be best to clear that up :) and thank you for all of your responses!
/EDIT.

For those of you who already have little ones, what's the one (or couple) of things you absolutely love and could not live without regarding baby items?  It could be as simple as a diaper bag to as complicated as a travel system stroller/car seat.  I'm in the process of registering and would like some feedback from those of you who have actually used the products.  Thanks in advance.

Please... please... pleasee...... HALP. I've had heart burn since 4AM and my throat feels like I've been spewing out flames and it's making me feel sooooo nauseated now. I eat small, bland meals, drink plenty of water or 2% milk, sleep reclined and/or up right and NOTHING is helping. /insert sad face

Suggestions? I'll be your best friend if it works <3

34 weeks and some change.

I'm full-term pregnant (either 37 or 40 weeks depending on whether you believe my doctor or my specialist) and intend on having a VBAC. Yesterday, I lost some (though not all) of my amniotic fluid and was admitted to the hospital to give birth. Shortly thereafter, I began early labor and started having contractions 2-3 minutes apart. I stayed in the hospital for seven hours, fruitlessly contracting. An ultrasound showed that I only lost about a half-cup of fluid; fluid levels are very low but not yet dangerously low in my womb. During that entire time, I did not dilate even a centimeter.

Because of my lack of progress dilating, my doctor decided that I wasn't having "real" contractions, because I wasn't crying and nauseous while having them. I told her that I could (and can) feel them and they were certainly painful, but that I have an unusually high pain tolerance and probably wouldn't cry, vomit, etc at the onset of "extreme" pain. Nevertheless, because I specifically requested that I did not want pitocin or a very medicalised second birthing (my first child's birth was an emergency c-sec which I still have PTSD issues with) she decided to send me home for two days to see if "anything happens."

It is the next day and I am still having rapid, strong, frequent contractions, with pressure through my pelvic area, though I haven't had any more fluid leakage. My doctor said I should only call back if I lose "a significant amount" of fluid or actually do start having contractions during which I can only cry and not speak.

My doctor is aware that there is a family history (my mother's) of inability to progress in labor. My mother's birth with me was an emergency c-section after four weeks of contractions and no dilation. I've been having contractions off and on and now steadily for about two weeks and I'm not dilating.

Is there anything - preferably a natural treatment - that I can do to help dilation occur? I really, really do not want to have another c-section.

Okay, I'm sure I'm just freaking out for no good reason here, but at 4-6 wks pregnant, should I be concerned if I don't feel anything?

I took a pregnancy test on Sunday and it was positive, and I'm going to see my doctor next week, but in the meantime, I'm freaking out because I don't really feel pregnant or anything.

The only "symptoms" I've had so far are tender breasts, and last night I had a sort of low ache in my abdomen--not really painful, but like very mild cramps.

Should I be concerned? Should I be feeling anything else?

Ever since this pregnancy was known to me and my husband, we've faced some serious trials in our life.

I lost my job and in the next week found out I was pregnant. Then my husband got seriously ill and was signed off work. The place we were living was a hell hole. A total ice box in winter and a sauna in summer...we had problems with black mould, no hot water and just generally living in a shoe-box like manner because we had my brother staying with us - which was fun and in hindsight something I'd do again because when I was sick he took care of me.

We had major money issues. Our issue was that we applied for benefits (welfare) and got totally screwed over on that; someone closed our claim after a month and we only got a months worth of money. They were some tough times, but we pulled through on what my brother was paying to us in rent and what we had in our savings.

Then my husband realised he was entitled to some money for being signed off work. And all other kinds of things. I started my Degree in September, we moved home and town.

My husbands illness started driving me crazy - I know you're supposed to be some martyr and find a way through without complaint, but it was really hard to watch someone deterioate and be completely powerless as to help them.

Then we got told we're getting all our money cut off and my student loan still hadn't come through - after many phone battles.

We were running out of cash.

Luckily for us, we have had some amazing help from our church and the people there.

And everything else seemed to work itself out.

When we got into a car crash last week it really felt like nothing. I mean, looking back, it was scary and the fact I was pregnant and in a car crash was another thing but I kept calm.

I sat up last night and thought about this pregnancy. It's been hell, I won't lie. Physically it has been very up and down, but I've been handling it and it's not the worst thing I've ever been through...but I've been really ill pretty much the whole way through and I haven't really noticed until I got time to notice it - we've had too much stuff going on we've just had to keep dealing with and I guess it's kept my mind going.

Emotionally it was hell, too. I was severely depressed for a large chunk of my pregnancy and it's made me re-consider doing this again for the sake of my sanity and family. If I want to be a good mother, I can't do that if pregnancy makes me that depressed again.

Anyway, my point is that somehow everything's all worked out :). And I don't know how haha. And it's not as if my physical stuff has gone away, it's not. It's not as though my husband got better over night, he hasn't :). It's just that all the other stuff has died down and taken care of itself...

I don't know how, but it all works out. So if you're freaking out about how you'll get everything done, don't panic. The important stuff will work out and the rest really isn't that important :).

Relax and enjoy the pregnancy ride because it ends quicker than you think.