Oh, I remember this!

[ailbhe]

The Braxton Hicks are coming along nicely. They pretty much stop me moving, leave me breathless, and irritate the Tadpole, who then kicks madly in protest afterwards. I'm having to stand carefully to support my back, and my bump and knees need support in bed. However, I do not have any restless leg this pregnancy, for which I am deeply grateful. However AGAIN, I do have weirdly dry skin, and insane hair which hates being washed. I'm considering combing olive oil through it and leaving it there for a week; at least oiled hair doesn't mat and is easy to comb. I'm also wondering whether henna would serve the dual purpose of making my hair lovely and shiny and cheerful and red.

It's birth plan time again, too. I think I might need to consider what level of induction I'm willing to go for if it does turn out that a trial of labour is a reasonable idea. I think I will refuse a syntocinon / pitocin drip and go straight to section. I'm not at all sure I could face that again - and I really don't think I could bear another epidural, even if they claim I could have walking one, which they refused me last time when push came to shove, as it were. Nor all that bloody monitoring. In fact, if I'm going to trial labour, I think I might want to stop trying at the point where they try to immobilise me. That's probably the scariest bit of the whole thing other than the evil obstetrician who thought I was an obstacle to his bank holiday weekend - a stupid, crying obstacle, at that.

Tricky. I can't figure out how to force myself to write the damn thing.

And still the contractions come...

Comments

[rosefox]

Can you write it in theory? "If I were going to have a birth plan, I'd want it to have thus-and-such in it." Then get Rob to transcribe it and fix all the verbs.

[pauamma]

Ask someone (Rob?) to put something together from your LJ posts, anything you said or wrote privately, and anything else you can bear to say/write, then look at the result and comment or sign on the dotted line, depending on how the result looks?

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Henna does wonders on my hair. WONDERS. Alternatively, you could put it into wee plaits, the way we did when we were nine or so? Plaits also don't matt and don't need washing as much.

Possibly silly question

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Given that Linnea was fine after your previous birth, why would they suggest continual monitoring this time?

I too am stalling at the birthplan thing. I think I'm going to talk at Alex and get him to write it down because I keep coming up with excuses not to. And I haven't got anything like the reasons to feel that way that you do.

Re: Possibly silly question

[ailbhe]

If they induce me with synto again they will probably want continual monitoring. I want to avoid having to argue against it, anyway.

Re: Possibly silly question

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. At the Royal they have 'walking' monitors, which might be an option. But given what you've said about Linnea's birth, I understand you wanting to avoid induction altogether.

Re: Possibly silly question

[ailbhe]

In *theory* they have walking epidurals and monitors at the RBH but I was refused last time. Unfortunately we weren't in a position to take notes as to why.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

As someone who went through the machine, I completely and totally support your rejection of the intermediate steps. Well, heck, I support whatever decision you make, 'cause, you know, your decision, your body, your choices, your sensibleness. And also, in this case, what with my own personal experience, I think much of my difficulty in recovering was due to the damned pitocin and the damage it did.

[ailbhe]

I was pretty happy with my last labour until they introduced a syntocin drip, a saline drip, an epidural, and continuous monitoring. I think that's not something I'm willing to endure again. I can almost feel the flashbacks from here.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I think that skipping straight ahead to a C-section if they suggest pitocin is an excellent idea.

Third, or fourth, or whatever, the idea of having Rob and/or your excellent midwife write the birth plan.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I think I'd make the same decision in your situation. It sounds to me like you really need to be able to move around, both physically and mentally. I would rather have a c-section than have to push lying down if I'd had your injuries.

At my local hospital, they encourage people being induced to *not* get epidurals or other pain medication, and to move around as much as possible. Would they let you do that? Not that I'd blame you at all if you didn't want induction drugs. I don't know if I would either. In fact, I'm really hesitant to even suggest it since I'm sure you're getting a lot of pressure already, so please just ignore if it isn't something you'd consider. I've just seen enough births now where women made it through an induced labor without an epidural (and, in some cases, no medication at all) that the induction = automatic epidural association makes me twitch a little.

(Of course, my hospital keeps the pitocin as low as they can, and don't start off high or crank it up just to get things moving faster. I'm sure that helps a lot.)

[ailbhe]

I ended up on an epidural last time because I'd had as much pethidine as they were willing to give me and gas and air wasn't cutting it. It has never been clear whether the syntocin/pitocin augmentation of labour was related to the epidural or not. I don't know what they decided when.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. Pitocin is necessary with an epidural because labor doesn't progress otherwise.