but this is what happens to me at about 2 pm every day when i just can't sit anymore: ( i can only cope with this position)
Monday 30 April 2012
Working 9 to 5
.... my backache is getting worse, i might ask he midwife on wednesday, but somehow i already know what she is going to tell me ...
but this is what happens to me at about 2 pm every day when i just can't sit anymore: ( i can only cope with this position)
but this is what happens to me at about 2 pm every day when i just can't sit anymore: ( i can only cope with this position)
Sunday 29 April 2012
2nd antenatal class
... After the first amazing experience i was dreading this a bit...
the theme was pain relief during labour.... i have always been a strong advocate for epidural, when administered by a serious professional it's the best and safest way to have a baby.... let's see what happened in the class...
Strangely enough the first thing we noticed was that form the 11 couple of the first session only 5 were present.... hhhh the quality of the first lesson must have impressed them too much...
the theme of the day was
PAIN RELIEF DURING LABOUR
These are the options that were offered to us (we talked about these for 1 hour and 55 minutes) - I will try and be objective this time.....
the midwife sniggered the moment she said the word, please note last week she refused to show us a forceps, or show us a birth video as it might scare people,
and then proceeded to extract from her bag of tricks the various implements needed for an epidural
the needle is very long look at it
and it has to go in your back think about it
and it might be that you get punctured
and you have to get a catheter fitted
... in other word she did everything she could to get us in the frame of mind that the epidural is really not a viable option.... (cost to the NHS ...varies, need to have a doctor (Obstetrics salary from, £29500) and a anaesthetists (Salaries start at £28000) and a midwife there as well)
also what really struck me is that in the uk the epidural is self administered... i mean the put the tube in and then they give you a button so that you self administer the pain relief drug when you are in pain....
are we serious????
In the rest of the world you have someone checking your anatomy and giving you the right amount of drug so that you do not feel all of the pain and still feel the need to push, making childbirth easier, and you are always checked by a doctor ....
So in the end we still do not know what we want to do... i think we will use the Chiesa-Canziani method we go and swing it....
I am however more and more shocked by the witch doctor approach that has been offered to us... I am not sure all of the NHS is the same, and i am pretty sure it depends a lot from the midwife you have and her degree of hippiness...still I am very disappointed and a bit worried bout the well being of my baby... i have to trust people that seems to think that dancing naked in the moonlight is a valid medical technique....
the theme was pain relief during labour.... i have always been a strong advocate for epidural, when administered by a serious professional it's the best and safest way to have a baby.... let's see what happened in the class...
Strangely enough the first thing we noticed was that form the 11 couple of the first session only 5 were present.... hhhh the quality of the first lesson must have impressed them too much...
the theme of the day was
PAIN RELIEF DURING LABOUR
These are the options that were offered to us (we talked about these for 1 hour and 55 minutes) - I will try and be objective this time.....
- Gas ... yes the same one you can buy for one pound a balloon when you go raving.. you know the one that gets you high . apparently it is so efficient it comes in pipes directly into your birthing room and you can have as much as you want of it (cost to the NHS a maximum of £30 per person using it)
- Music .. you must bring your own and you can play it as loud as you want (possibly to cover up you screaming your head off in pain.... cost to the NHS ..FREE)
- Aromatherapy - all of the NHS midwifes are now trained in aromatherapy massage, you can use a range of essential oils (general cost £ 5 pounds a bottle from amazon... i suppose they buy in bulk so it's cheaper) or bring your own (NHS cost = FREE)
- Hot water bottle - bring your own as it might not be there and you need a sleeve or you might get burnt as the pain of labour might be so severe you won't feel the burning (once again cost to the NHS = FREE)
- Hypnoteraphy ... you need to do a course before it can cost up to £150 (which you have to pay for) or you can buy books on amazon (cost to the NHS £0 .... cost to you variable)
- Praying .... i refuse even to acknowledge this
- Reading .... same as before
- Walking up and down stairs ...apparently if you go up and down staircases sideways the rocking of your pelvis will help your dilation...does nothing for pain but it will keep you busy and might speed up things...
- Tens machines ... YOU MUST RENT this before from a pharmacy as the hospital will not supply this...
- Opiates ... these are not recommended as they might pass through the bloodstream o the baby making it drowsy so could bring to complications in birth
the midwife sniggered the moment she said the word, please note last week she refused to show us a forceps, or show us a birth video as it might scare people,
and then proceeded to extract from her bag of tricks the various implements needed for an epidural
the needle is very long look at it
and it has to go in your back think about it
and it might be that you get punctured
and you have to get a catheter fitted
... in other word she did everything she could to get us in the frame of mind that the epidural is really not a viable option.... (cost to the NHS ...varies, need to have a doctor (Obstetrics salary from, £29500) and a anaesthetists (Salaries start at £28000) and a midwife there as well)
also what really struck me is that in the uk the epidural is self administered... i mean the put the tube in and then they give you a button so that you self administer the pain relief drug when you are in pain....
are we serious????
In the rest of the world you have someone checking your anatomy and giving you the right amount of drug so that you do not feel all of the pain and still feel the need to push, making childbirth easier, and you are always checked by a doctor ....
So in the end we still do not know what we want to do... i think we will use the Chiesa-Canziani method we go and swing it....
I am however more and more shocked by the witch doctor approach that has been offered to us... I am not sure all of the NHS is the same, and i am pretty sure it depends a lot from the midwife you have and her degree of hippiness...still I am very disappointed and a bit worried bout the well being of my baby... i have to trust people that seems to think that dancing naked in the moonlight is a valid medical technique....
Saturday 28 April 2012
the hospital
for all of my italian friends that are asking me why am i not giving birth in Italy, i thought i would show you the "amazing" hospital where i could be giving birth....
from the outside it looks like this:
however these are the toilets:
yes i know... traumatising...
and yes i did think
why on earth am i not going to give birth in italy, more than once
but it is a bit too late
and on the plus side
this is what the maternity ward looks like from the inside
from the outside it looks like this:
however these are the toilets:
and yes i did think
why on earth am i not going to give birth in italy, more than once
but it is a bit too late
and on the plus side
this is what the maternity ward looks like from the inside
Saturday 21 April 2012
30 weeks pregnant
It is week 30 ... only 9/10 weeks more to go
a quick count tells me that:
Ovulation date: Wed, October 5th ,2011
Conception date: Wed, October 5th ,2011
Implantation date: Fri, October 14th ,2011
Due date: Tue, June 26th ,2012
Still to go:
Conception date: Wed, October 5th ,2011
Implantation date: Fri, October 14th ,2011
Due date: Tue, June 26th ,2012
Still to go:
66 days to go
OMG seems like an eternity and at the same time so close.... this week has been a bit hard, I think hormones were playing up a little and I am getting increasingly paranoid something might go wrong at the last minute... I even started a baby movements monitoring excel spreadsheet as i sometimes am to busy and fail to notice movement and then think baby is dead..... and a chart of my increasing tummy circumference (92 cm this week) as I feel i am not gaining any weight (would i ever imagined this might have become a concern of mine.....)
I am also increasingly disappointed and concerned by the service provided by the NHS, as i am not happy at all with the fact that i have not seen my "real" midwife for 4 months (why would i want to when i have even seen the obstetrician once!!!!) .. it seems they rely a lot on the stats... "97% of the times all goes well, so why should you worry" is the attitude i am faced with.
I supposed it does do work when you are faced with the numbers they have to deal with; but what they really forget is the emotions that come with this experience, the uncertainty of it all. I have never had babies before, and never been in close contact with women that have, so i really miss emotional support, you jut need someone to tell you what you are going through is normal, and mostly i just want someone scientifically and medically trained to tell me baby is all right and not a middle age WW micro van hippy telling me to smell flowers.....
But enough ranting.... thanks to the internet and wasting a lot of time you can find all of the information you need and definitely more emotional support that you ever need to ...
this is what happens in week 30 of pregnancy:
Your baby now measures a little more than 39cm from crown to toe. Her growth in terms of her length will soon slow down but she will continue to gain weight until she's born. She probably weighs about 1.3kg at this stage. Your baby's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. She continues to open and shut her eyes. She can probably see what's going on inside your uterus (womb), tell light from dark and even track a light source. If you shine a light on your stomach, your baby may move her head to follow the light or even reach out to touch the moving glow. your baby now has eyebrows and can bat her eyelashes! About a litre of amniotic fluid now surrounds your baby, but that volume decreases as she gets bigger and has less room in your uterus. As you and your baby continue to grow, don't be alarmed if you feel breathless, as if you can't get enough air. It's just your uterus pressing against your diaphragm.
And it should look something like this, but i am not sure baby is turned exactly that way as yesterday evening we freakly felt something like fingers or toes through the tummy......
Thursday 19 April 2012
What i really would have wanted to know during my first antenatal class.....
What i really would have wanted to know during my first antenatal class, but i was faced with sillyness:
There are three stages of labour, and we'll go into each one in more detail in future classes but for now, this is what you need to know.
1. During the first stage your cervix, which is the entrance to your uterus (womb), softens and opens. You'll be having regular contractions: tightenings of your uterus. To start with, the contractions will be several minutes apart. But over time, they will get stronger and longer with less time between them. From start to end the first stage of labour can take a few hours or more than a day, and as things progress it can become a very intense experience.
and this would have been useful to:
There are three stages of labour, and we'll go into each one in more detail in future classes but for now, this is what you need to know.
1. During the first stage your cervix, which is the entrance to your uterus (womb), softens and opens. You'll be having regular contractions: tightenings of your uterus. To start with, the contractions will be several minutes apart. But over time, they will get stronger and longer with less time between them. From start to end the first stage of labour can take a few hours or more than a day, and as things progress it can become a very intense experience.
2. Once
your cervix has dilated to 10 cm, the work and excitement of the second
stage begin. This is the stage of labour when you push your baby
through your vagina and out into the world. At long last, you meet him
or her for the first time. If you have had a baby before, the second
stage may only take five or 10 minutes. If this is your first baby, it
may take several hours. Either way, it's hard work! Have a go at the
exercises in the section below - they'll help you to prepare your body
for the challenge ahead.
3. You
might be surprised to learn that labour isn't over when your baby
arrives. Your placenta, which has supported your baby for the past nine
months, still needs to come out. This is the third stage of labour.
Delivering your placenta is much easier than giving birth to your baby,
and you can choose to do it naturally or have an injection that will
speed up the process. We'll help you decide which is right for you in
week six.
and this would have been useful to:
Giving birth to your baby can be hard work but there are a few exercises
you can do now to help prepare your body for what's to come. Of all the
exercises for labour and beyond the most important are your pelvic
floor exercises. You need to do at least eight squeezes three times a
day. Here's how they're done:
- Place one hand at the top of your bump and the other on one of your shoulders. Breathe normally for four or five breaths.
- If your breathing is relaxed, you should find that the hand on your tummy moves up and down more than the hand on your shoulder. If this is not happening, try to stop your shoulders moving and let your tummy rise and fall naturally.
- Once you have mastered this, gently pull up and in "down below" as you breathe out. When you are learning, don't try to pull up so hard that you have to hold your breath. Start with a gentle contraction until you have managed to co-ordinate your contraction with a breath out.
- Try then to hold a contraction for a few seconds while you continue to breathe in and out as normal.
- You may feel your lower tummy muscles tightening and this if fine. If you are tightening your upper tummy muscles (above your belly button), then you are trying too hard! Go back to the breathing exercise and start again.
Tuesday 17 April 2012
1st Antenatal Class
Today we went to the first antenatal class.
I did not know really what to expect, i was imagining a clean gym looking like room with mirrors and a nurse guiding us through breathing exercises, videos showing us what to expect, and a clear explanation of labour stages and what to do and when to do it...
something like this:
I was possibly unreasonable and had seen too many US TV shows... or i was just naive...
as it looked much more like this:
I arrived first (why would anyone want to be on time?????)
Slowly the room filled up; there were another5 couples and 2 lonely ladies..... I couple looked like they were 12, but it is possibly just me being an old cow..... they did not seem like the brightest tools in the box.....
We then met our midwife, a nice middle age very English woman that offered us tea and biscuits.
After the meet and greet
(usual round around the room: "Hi May name is Barbara and i am pregnant" kind of thing )
we got down to business, we got divided in 2 groups and we were asked to write down any questions we had....
We spent the rest of the 2 hours discussing the questions and giving the answers.
(yes, you know that old training technique "if you do not know the answer throw it back to the room and someone will know the answer"????? That's exactly what happened)
What questions were asked.... ahhh so interesting and sooooo useful
"What sex position can we use safely?"
"will my penis hit the baby's head if we have sex?" (Yeah you wish man with a clearly too small penis)
and other pearls....
But to be fair we also learnt... we learnt that the baby need to have his head downward to be born (really???? I would never have thought so)
and that if by week 36 the baby had not adopted the desired position ( baby is engaged) we have a situation called breech; and it looks something like this:
Clearly baby cannot be born this way, we need to have the baby turned....
how do we do it?
a- we can do a downward facing dog and hope the baby moves and turns
b- an obstetrician can turn the baby with his hands (do not worry they give you medicine before doing that)
c- you can have a Cesarean
or... the best option:
d- use Moxibustion
I will not report what Richard did at the mention of this as a viable option, but it was not pretty....
Honestly i thought it was an enormous waste of time, everything they told us i could have read it in a book or on the Internet and it would have possibly be more accurate...
Only 1 piece of info was actually useful, when i will go into labour i will not be admitted in the labour ward until the contractions are 3 to 5 minutes apart and they last about 50 seconds (this will mean my cervix will be 4 cm dilated)
or if my water break and there is blood i need to go in immediately ....
I am now looking forward next week class, where we will be advised on labour positions and pain relief options.... i am sure after the homoeopathy crap they will tell us about will be drafting the birth astrological chart of the baby.
I can't believe we live in the dark ages
Go epidural, go Cesarean
I did not know really what to expect, i was imagining a clean gym looking like room with mirrors and a nurse guiding us through breathing exercises, videos showing us what to expect, and a clear explanation of labour stages and what to do and when to do it...
something like this:
I was possibly unreasonable and had seen too many US TV shows... or i was just naive...
as it looked much more like this:
I arrived first (why would anyone want to be on time?????)
Slowly the room filled up; there were another5 couples and 2 lonely ladies..... I couple looked like they were 12, but it is possibly just me being an old cow..... they did not seem like the brightest tools in the box.....
We then met our midwife, a nice middle age very English woman that offered us tea and biscuits.
After the meet and greet
(usual round around the room: "Hi May name is Barbara and i am pregnant" kind of thing )
we got down to business, we got divided in 2 groups and we were asked to write down any questions we had....
We spent the rest of the 2 hours discussing the questions and giving the answers.
(yes, you know that old training technique "if you do not know the answer throw it back to the room and someone will know the answer"????? That's exactly what happened)
What questions were asked.... ahhh so interesting and sooooo useful
"What sex position can we use safely?"
"will my penis hit the baby's head if we have sex?" (Yeah you wish man with a clearly too small penis)
and other pearls....
But to be fair we also learnt... we learnt that the baby need to have his head downward to be born (really???? I would never have thought so)
and that if by week 36 the baby had not adopted the desired position ( baby is engaged) we have a situation called breech; and it looks something like this:
Clearly baby cannot be born this way, we need to have the baby turned....
how do we do it?
a- we can do a downward facing dog and hope the baby moves and turns
b- an obstetrician can turn the baby with his hands (do not worry they give you medicine before doing that)
c- you can have a Cesarean
or... the best option:
d- use Moxibustion
I will not report what Richard did at the mention of this as a viable option, but it was not pretty....
Honestly i thought it was an enormous waste of time, everything they told us i could have read it in a book or on the Internet and it would have possibly be more accurate...
Only 1 piece of info was actually useful, when i will go into labour i will not be admitted in the labour ward until the contractions are 3 to 5 minutes apart and they last about 50 seconds (this will mean my cervix will be 4 cm dilated)
or if my water break and there is blood i need to go in immediately ....
I am now looking forward next week class, where we will be advised on labour positions and pain relief options.... i am sure after the homoeopathy crap they will tell us about will be drafting the birth astrological chart of the baby.
I can't believe we live in the dark ages
Go epidural, go Cesarean
Sunday 15 April 2012
is this a bump?
.. just as everyone is asking me
let me give you an update on the bump
is it there?
is it big?
can you feel it?
this is how it looks when i breathe:
It is enormous!!!!
and if i bend forward we can see the head popping out ....
Freaky ... very freaky!!!!
let me give you an update on the bump
is it there?
is it big?
can you feel it?
this is how it looks when i breathe:
and if i bend forward we can see the head popping out ....
buy of the day
... in a moment of madness today i bought:
so now we are set to carry the baby around town... it has 3 positions and it is suitable from birth
OMG
we also selcted the Moses Basket, i think we will order it tomorrow
:)
OMG
we also selcted the Moses Basket, i think we will order it tomorrow
:)
Tuesday 10 April 2012
29 weeks pregnant
9 weeks to go
i just want to say 9 week to go
(10.. 9...Check ignition and may God's love
what is happening this week?
Your baby's head is getting bigger and his brain is developing rapidly. Nearly all babies react to sound and light by the end of this week. His brain is laying down billions of neurons, which are important for later learning, at an amazing rate.
(OMG i can't screw up this week, if it comes out an interior designer i will blame it on this week)
Your baby now weighs a little over 1kg and measures about 39cm from head to toe. On his head, hair is growing well. If you're having a boy, his testicles will have descended from near the kidneys through the groin en route to the scrotum. If your baby is a girl, her clitoris is prominent, because it's not yet covered by the still-small labia. These will grow to cover it in the last few weeks before birth.
(thank you for sharing this)
So all in all baby is very busy this week ....
and i can tell as it is moving like a mad thing.... i think i am giving birth to an octopus...
videos will follow of what happens in the night... at about 3am ...
almost every night.....
i just want to say 9 week to go
(10.. 9...Check ignition and may God's love
what is happening this week?
Your baby's head is getting bigger and his brain is developing rapidly. Nearly all babies react to sound and light by the end of this week. His brain is laying down billions of neurons, which are important for later learning, at an amazing rate.
(OMG i can't screw up this week, if it comes out an interior designer i will blame it on this week)
Your baby now weighs a little over 1kg and measures about 39cm from head to toe. On his head, hair is growing well. If you're having a boy, his testicles will have descended from near the kidneys through the groin en route to the scrotum. If your baby is a girl, her clitoris is prominent, because it's not yet covered by the still-small labia. These will grow to cover it in the last few weeks before birth.
(thank you for sharing this)
So all in all baby is very busy this week ....
and i can tell as it is moving like a mad thing.... i think i am giving birth to an octopus...
videos will follow of what happens in the night... at about 3am ...
almost every night.....
Friday 6 April 2012
Child Abuse
It had to happen, sooner or later i had to give in....
and finally today i really really did it...
i bought stuff for baby that i should never have bought
this is exbit one
and this is exibit two
which came with tickets for the Star Trek Convention
I am now ready to be arrested......
and finally today i really really did it...
i bought stuff for baby that i should never have bought
this is exbit one
and this is exibit two
which came with tickets for the Star Trek Convention
I am now ready to be arrested......
Thursday 5 April 2012
baby bump - alien in my tummy
... So it all started last night in my usual "back from work trying to relax into my comfy bath tub" when there was a tugging in my tummy.... i put my hand there and ..OORRGGGG... what is this round thing moving??? OMG it is the head .... there is really a baby in there ....
Later on in the evening me and Richard found a foot next to where my appendix was.....
after the horror/excitment/exilaration of the moment we went to bed and kind of forgot about it...
and then this morning, while experiencing my "OMP it is frikin' freezing let's warm up bath" this happened...
Well, not,not really....
actually this happened:
I am sorry for the heavy breathing .....
the most amazing thing is that i can see the baby moving, but i cannot feel it....
It is like it is not really there, but clearly it is!!!!
It gets more real every day.....
Later on in the evening me and Richard found a foot next to where my appendix was.....
after the horror/excitment/exilaration of the moment we went to bed and kind of forgot about it...
and then this morning, while experiencing my "OMP it is frikin' freezing let's warm up bath" this happened...
Well, not,not really....
actually this happened:
the most amazing thing is that i can see the baby moving, but i cannot feel it....
It is like it is not really there, but clearly it is!!!!
It gets more real every day.....
Wednesday 4 April 2012
Baby Bump spot the difference
... on Tuesday somebody at work called me a balenottera...
NO WAY i responded, i only put on 6 kgs since the beginning...
I could not possibly be a whale....
but then i caught my reflection in a mirror ...
so here i put it to you
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Which one is Barbamamma and which one is Barbara????????
NO WAY i responded, i only put on 6 kgs since the beginning...
I could not possibly be a whale....
but then i caught my reflection in a mirror ...
so here i put it to you
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Which one is Barbamamma and which one is Barbara????????
Tuesday 3 April 2012
28 weeks pregnant ...
OMG laughing and joking we made it to 28 weeks... only 10ish to go
we are really overdue for a picture and to be honest today after a girl at work declared I am as big as a blue whale i looked at my tummy reflection in a bathroom mirror and
HELP
it looks enormous
I did not even notice it got this big.... granted the skin is tight and itchy, but still no linea nigra and still no stretch marks (Thank you Bio oil)
a quick look at my weekly update tells me that this week:
Your baby can now open her eyes and will turn her head towards the source of a continuous bright light. Her fingernails are budding, and fat layers are beginning to form as she gets ready for life outside your uterus.
You may notice about now that your baby moves around a lot more when you have a bath or shower. She's responding to the light and noise.
Your baby weighs a little more than 1kg and may measure up to 38cm from top to toe.
She's getting used to blinking her eyes, which now have eyelashes.
Her fat layers are continuing to form and her bones are nearly developed, though they are still soft and pliable. Her bones won’t harden properly until after she's born.
But the scariest thing is:
Your breasts may begin to produce colostrum, the concentrated early milk, so don't be surprised if they leak a little. Leaking is perfectly normal and won't affect how much colostrum you produce when your baby is born.
Keep tuned for leaky breasts then
:P
we are really overdue for a picture and to be honest today after a girl at work declared I am as big as a blue whale i looked at my tummy reflection in a bathroom mirror and
HELP
it looks enormous
I did not even notice it got this big.... granted the skin is tight and itchy, but still no linea nigra and still no stretch marks (Thank you Bio oil)
a quick look at my weekly update tells me that this week:
Your baby can now open her eyes and will turn her head towards the source of a continuous bright light. Her fingernails are budding, and fat layers are beginning to form as she gets ready for life outside your uterus.
You may notice about now that your baby moves around a lot more when you have a bath or shower. She's responding to the light and noise.
Your baby weighs a little more than 1kg and may measure up to 38cm from top to toe.
She's getting used to blinking her eyes, which now have eyelashes.
Her fat layers are continuing to form and her bones are nearly developed, though they are still soft and pliable. Her bones won’t harden properly until after she's born.
But the scariest thing is:
Your breasts may begin to produce colostrum, the concentrated early milk, so don't be surprised if they leak a little. Leaking is perfectly normal and won't affect how much colostrum you produce when your baby is born.
Keep tuned for leaky breasts then
:P
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