I agree with being a wimp; hence why I say I am going to "try" to do it naturally! I hear that your birthing experience is often like your mothers, though, and my mom had Very easy deliveries with no drugs. And like me, she had awful pregnancies! She still says she would have had 10 more kids if all she had to do was deliver them, because she thought that was so much easier than being pregnant. I don't actually know if there is any truth to the idea of it being like your mother, but I am hoping!

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Krissy

Krissy & Jo-I consider myself a pretty big wimp and was able to deliver with only 2 doses of stadol. I think I would have done without it if I didn't have to labor laying on my left side only. Just keep an open mind and practice your breathing! That really helped me through!

Krissy-My labor was similar to my moms in that it went quickly and would have been nearly identical except that I developed pre-eclampsia (hence the laboring on my left side). Hopefully that is good news for you!!

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My poor mama had an emergency Csection with her first so we were all sections. I have no idea what hers would have been like. But, the women in my family tend ot have pretty fast deliveries and mine was like 8 hours total with like 5 pushes so not too bad for a first.

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Christie, Kristy - I hope I have an easy delivery like ya'll did!

Cole -My nose has been stuffy too, and I have been sneezing. Such a pain!

Heidi - How are you feeling? Have you felt the baby move yet? I think I might have, but I'm not sure. We looked into cord banking, but haven't made a decision yet. I think we are leaning against it at this point.

I started my Moms in Motion workout class yesterday. It was like the weight/cardio class I loved taking before I got pg, but ALOT slower. It was obviously good for me though, b/c I am sore. I actually missed that feeling and I am excited about continuing it! I am super tired today though...I guess I was more out of shape than I realized.

I have a presentation in about an hour for my VP & I am in a daze. I really don't feel like doing it......I'm crossing my fingers I don't get many questions, b/c my head is not in it today.

DH agreed to go to Baby's R Us this weekend. I am looking forward to his reaction when he gets there - I am 100% positive he has never set foot in a store like it before. Hehe.

I hope everyone has a good day!!

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LOL, Dana! Congrats on your healthy baby girl (I am good, huh?) .

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The whole cord-blood issue got me looking into some options. I don't think we're going to store ours because of the price...but there is a way to donate it that doesn't cost the parents anything:

Donating Umbilical Cord Blood to a Public Bank

I think I'll talk to my dr. about it on Friday when I have my next appt.... I looked & the hospital I'm delivering at participates, so hopefuly my dr. will be on-board! It seems to be a waste to let such a valuable gift go to waste!

Jen - how'd the presentation go? I'm sure it went just fine!!
I dragged my DH to Babies R Us several times before I got preg. to help pick out registry gifts. So, when it was our turn, he knew what to expect! It was still a little overwhelming - just cuz it was 'personal' that time....he looked at everything & thought we'd need it all. Dork!

My labor with Maddie was completley opposite of either of my mom's...My sister was 2 weeks early & no drugs - all natural...I was 2 days early & again no drugs (my mom said the nurse didn't believe her when she said I was crowning, but she reluctantly checked & my head was right there! - no time for drugs!) .... my labor was induced 3 weeks early due to high b/p & by the time she was born, I had so many things going in & out of me, it was insane! I started with cervadil shoved in my who-ha, then I had my regular saline IV, antibiotics, & pitocin hanging on the little hook, the epi on my back, the external belly monitor, 1 internal monitor for my contractions, 1 internal monitor attached to Maddie's head to track her condition & a saline flush to keep my fluid levels ok, the b/p monitor on my arm & a lovely oxygen mask to top it all off! I am so hoping it is not like that again...but who knows!

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-Cole: I think it is great that you are going to donate, and hope that more people do! We can't really afford to bank ours, and don't have a family history that suggests we need to, but my best friend passed away two years ago from some complications from Multiple Sclerosis. She was in the middle of a newspaper article on stem cell transplants when she passed, and her parents asked me to finish it for her. I did the research and published it with both of our names on it. I believe that things happen for a reason, and for me, that is enough reason to scrounge up the money and bank our babies blood. There is some very promising research out there, and a lot of families that have children who need those stem cells and do not have them. If your baby was a match for one of those children; what a gift!

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Krissy

I'm the biggest wimp there is and went to 9cm without an epidural! When the nurse told me it might be too late I kept saying "but I have a LOW pain tolerance!!!" and they almost laughed because I had made it to 7cm without even knowing I was in labor. I also don't think that your labor is always like your mom's. My mom never went early or as quick with any of hers.

Cole-that oxygen is some good stuff!!! I think I liked the oxygen better than the stadol, lol.

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Krissy - we don't have a family history that would predispose us or our children to have the need to use the cord blood (that we know of!) and money is pretty tight right now..but the more research I did, the more amazed I became at the possibilities of what those little cells can do!!! If I can help someone that really needs it, then it is definatley worth it! Besides, it doesn't cost us anything & there isn't anything else I really need to do besides remind the hospital staff that we want to do it when we get there.

Bina - 7cm without even knowing you were in labor!! Good grief girl!!! You must have a higher pain tolerance than you realize!

I have not slept more than 4 hours each of the past 2 nights. I have NO idea why I wake up. At first I think it's cuz I need to pee, but after I do, I don't go back to sleep like I used to. I just feel "off"...can't put my finger on it, but I don't feel like myself. I think I'm getting sick. My throat is getting a little scratchy & it's starting to hurt when I swallow...great!

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So the past few days my right nipple has been itchy and ionno. Not dry per say but flaking the skin out of the middle(is it just the hole?) so yeah. Today i go to examine and I'm leaking a small(teardrop or two) amount of clear fluid.

Should I see a doctor?

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Amber-I believe that is totally normal. It is just your breasts beginning to produce colostrum. One of the other girls will probably know more.

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Amber--my right nipple has been doing the same thing! Only my right nipple, though. I asked some friends with kids, and they said it is just your body preparing.

So I live on the Mississippi, and the rest of my family is in Iowa. My parents ENTIRE house is under water; they were evacuated. It is supposed to hit us here in the next day. Our house is 7 blocks from the river, so I am HOPING that is far enough. We live in an old victorian home that we are fixing up (DH is a contractor). It is 120 yrs old, so I figure it probably won't wash away, but I would rather not deal with moving furniture upstairs. I already lost my wedding dress, it was being cleaned in my parents town (where the wedding was) and the place that was doing it completely flooded. I guess I should have picked it up when they told me it was done! Ironic; my mom lost her wedding dress in the '93 floods. Hope you are all dry!

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Krissy

On the subject of cord blood donation...from someone who's been on the other side, if it's in your list of possibilities, please check into it. You can get TONS of free info packets (I have some stashed away somewhere that I ordered a few years back).

I hesitated to give input, because it's a subject that I can't be objective about, am very passionate about, and I don't want anyone to freak, especially in this section when there are so many other worries that run rampant. But, I realized, it is my responsibility to be an advocate. My words and experience could save a childs life someday, even years and years from now.

Anyway, as someone who spent 2 years, 1 month, and 26 days getting my girl (my goddaughter who I half-raised until she was 9) through chemo for leukemia (ALL), and after spending countless hours and days and weeks with other parents of other kids with the same or different potentially terminal illnesses, my awareness levels for things like that went way up.

I was going to start a non-profit organization five years ago and our fundraising platform was going to be based on sponsoring so-many people a year to get on the national marrow donor registry. It is appauling how much is costs to register yourself as an available donor (back then it was like, $75! I don't know now). I had the full business plan, sponsors, legal counsel, and everything in place to get started. Then I lost my CEO (the kids, her sister and best friends, ages 4 through 9, were going to be the board of directors, I was to be the Founder, and the parents of the other kids would be the 'Advisors to the Board'). Not to cancer. She's alive and healthy. But, that's another story...

When a child has leukemia, one of the first things people ask about is bone marrow (stem cell) transplant. People don't realize is that once you get to that point, it's pretty much last resort. They typically don't even consider that until the child has come out of remission a few times, because to do a transplant, they have to kill off the existing marrow. And then there are a host of problems that can come from the transplant alone, or have it not be successful. It's a last resort. Childhood leukemia is not known to be genetic, and there is no known cause. I don't say this to scare anyone, because it is very rare. But I will donate, if I ever have the chance. Though my girl responded well to chemo and all treatments and made it through with flying colors (as well as any 6-7-8 year old can fly through cancer), others don't. And the bigger the registries: adult marrow donors, cord blood donors, even blood and plasma donations, the better chance those kids have of finding the match they need, or even surviving long enough to get there. My little one had to be transfused (blood/platelets) three times before she was even stable enough to airlift to the big hospital with the PICU. There is so much that can be done, they have made HUGE strides in treatment in the past even 15 years, but there comes a point where medicine can't do any more alone, and you can be left just hoping and praying and wishing for a miracle. And that miracle could come in the form of someone's baby's donated cord blood...

I know it's not possible for everyone, but if it IS possible for you, think a little about it.

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Stephanie
I am so sorry to hear about your struggles; but happy to know that there was a happy ending for your situation. And I think it is good that you posted this information; it might get someone to consider donating or even banking their childs cord blood, which could save a life. As someone else put, all it really takes to donate is to remind the doctors when you check in. Everything I have read seems to believe that cord blood could be quicker and easier than marrow, as well, which can be very difficult to harvest. Its a great thing that people can do, and it's free to donate. Alright, I will get off of this subject now, because I already have my own mind set, but it is nice to hear all of your stories, and I am glad that you shared this.

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Krissy

Krissy-that sounds scary, I hope you and your house are ok!

Amber-it didnt' happen to me last time, but many women will start leaking when PG. Like Christie said, your body is getting ready to make milk.

Cole-I just realized how close you are getting to having that baby!!

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Oh, I'm glad it came across okay. To clarify, and then I'll let it rest too for myself: cord blood is very rich in stem cells (BTW, none of what I'm talking about has anything to do with cloning research and that stuff -- totally different subject). As we age, the only area of concentration for stem cells is in the pelvis. And yes, it is very painful -- and I only watched the bone marrow aspiration...and then promptly passed out from hearing the huge needle scrape her pelvic bone (she was completely sedated; they do that with the little kids for things like spinals).

Sorry, graphic, I know. Okay, I'm finished. I promise.

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