Prevent and Eliminate Stretch marks in abundant women

Why appear strokes? 

While pregnant, Mom continued derma to could cause a breach in the close band of the skin. Colour band arising as a aftereffect of these rips are accountable to colour and derma elastisikats mother. Can red or brown. 

After giving birth, continued curve of this derma is whitened teeth and aback into the mother's derma color. Although it may not abandon completely, but not bad if pregnant. 

Prevent Stretch marks 

Strokes the derma during abundance may be difficult but it can be prevented, mitigated. I can try the following: 

.Eat a advantageous diet with abundant beginning fruit, vegetables, cereals, grains and nuts.

.Drink abundant water

.Raise the weight boring and keep

.Do ablaze concrete exercise consistently to ascendancy Maternal weight gain

.The burning of vitamin E helps derma break toned. I can use the chrism or oil that is affluent in vitamin E for massaging the body. 

How to abolish Stretch marks? 

The easiest thing, Mom can do to affected the scars of the derma is to use the afterward time moisturizer massaged, both during and afterwards pregnancy. 

.Wheat antibody oil

.Almond oil

.Creams absolute Vitamin E

.Cocoa butter

Trimester Of Pregnancy

The abundance aeon is disconnected into three trimester. It has a three-phase development of the affecting and concrete that is altered and different. 

 

The I Trimester (weeks 1-12) 

During this time are usually abundant mothers are still wondering, is it accurate has been pregnant? Early signs of abundance such as abhorrence and airsickness due to hormonal changes action in this trimester. Change of habits such as smoking, bubbler alcohol, should be chock-full at this time. Start bubbler alert mothers milk appropriate from the alpha of pregnancy. Learn aswell abnegation of aliment and beverages for adolescent abundant women. 

Trimester II (weeks 13-28) 

Nausea and airsickness activate to disappear. The babyish is advancing at this time and began to move. Sporting lightweight, hygiene and diet of abundant women is bare at this time. 

The III Trimester (weeks 29-birth) 

The physique of abundant women attending added developed up. Sometimes alert mothers should convenance draws a animation in to accommodate abundant oxygen to the baby. Abundant women charge able rest, do not angle long, and do not lift abundant items at this time.

Pre-Term Labor

Ever since my first pregnancy, I have pined for an early delivery. Like, maybe even earlier than 37 weeks? Just a smudge? This is for several reasons, some of which are good and some of which are considerably less-than-good. Actually, most of which are not good. Here's something like how it went in my mind:

In the first place, the end of pregnancy is extremely uncomfortable. Avoidance of pain is not necessarily a good reason to deliver a baby, though, especially if he's not quite ready. Besides, bearing the pain of pregnancy placidly is good practice in bearing all the other pains (physical and psychological) of parenthood in a similar way. Easier said than done, but a worthy goal...!

In the second place, I kept thinking that if I could just stay skinny during one of these pregnancies, I would deliver my baby between 37 and 39 weeks like all my other skinny friends. Then, my doctor would love me because I'm skinny AND because I delivered my baby right when he wanted me to! But alas, I gained less weight with the last two pregnancies than with the first two (30-35 pounds each), and I still went nearly the full 40 weeks with both. I don't know how it would be possible for me to eat less or gain less weight without lying around the house moaning with hunger. (And if you've been keeping track, please don't worry about the baby: both of my skinny-pregnancies resulted in healthy eight pound babies at birth!).

In the third place, I kept thinking that little babies would be easier to deliver. A baby delivered at 36 weeks is bound to be smaller than a baby delivered at 40. But my 9.5 pound second son took all of 20 minutes to push out, so I no longer think that's necessarily the case. At least, not for my pelvic dimensions. Apparently there's plenty of room!

Even in spite of having some of these myths busted, I still kept thinking there would be some benefit to having a baby slightly before term. At least I could avoid the haggling over induction date with my doctor, right?

Well finally, two things happened at the end of this pregnancy that firmly convinced me it's better to still be pregnant at 39 weeks than have a baby that's not ready to be born on the outside of the womb at 35 or 36.

One day, I was walking around our neighborhood, hugely pregnant, with my three boys in tow. A NICU nurse who lives nearby was walking her dog. We casually struck up a conversation about when I would deliver (I was 35 weeks at the time), and she said, "Oh no, you want to wait a few more weeks. Even babies born at 35 weeks have it rough. They especially have a hard time nursing." I love nursing my babies, and the thought of a baby really struggling to latch and be nourished by the milk that was made just for him made me very, very sad. I decided that I would wait as long as I had to, if it only meant he was ready to be nourished on the outside!

Secondly, I did almost give birth at 36 weeks this time around. I was completely unprepared! I suppose there might be a few things I could do to get ready before 36 weeks next time, just in case. But it was shocking to me that even though I had already done this three times before, I somehow wouldn't be even mentally prepared to have a baby when I was only a month away from my due date.

Thirdly, a woman with whom I am very close had a medically-indicated c-section at 34.5 weeks. Thirty-four-and-a-half-weeks! Wouldn't that be great! Skip those last 6, painful weeks of pregnancy! I've heard that 34-week-old babies almost always do well outside the womb, because they are usually able to breathe well enough on their own by then...

Well, this family I know had a terrible time of it. Their little boy was not, in fact, ready to breathe on his own at birth. He was in the NICU for 17 days. Almost as soon as he came home, he became sick and was back in the hospital for 48 hours with a spinal tap. I looked at myself, 39 weeks pregnant, on the day that this little boy came home from the hospital for the second time, and decided that I would rather be 39 weeks pregnant than go through all that!

So I know that there's a difference between 34 or 35 weeks pregnant and 40, and that a lot changes in those last few weeks. It is, of course, right about 37 weeks that it becomes less clear whether it would really be so terrible to have baby on the outside, even at the cost of an induction. I'll have more thoughts on that in another post. But suffice it to say, I am now resolved never to wish to go into labor earlier than 37 weeks, even if I might have been tempted to wish it so before!

My OB Snuck Pearls of Wisdom into my Discharge Instructions!

First of all, I would like you to envision the kind of man my OB is: he is definitely in his 50s, probably in his 60s, and might even be close to 70. I don't know, it's sort of hard to tell. As far as I can tell, he is one of the physicians responsible for coordinating the clinical education of medical students and residents at the hospital where I delivery. He is originally from Africa, but I'm not sure where. He speaks with a very thick accent, and his name is French. Sometimes I can barely understand him, but I can always understand when he walks into the room and commands my attention with the following words: "Mama Elizabet." And he always says it with a smile on his face. He can go from jovial to serious in the blink of an eye. I know this well because it happened with my last two labors when he realized how quickly things were progressing during the pushing stage.

Here's some postpartum wisdom from this man who has taken care of me during my last three pregnancies, and who probably just delivered the last of my babies that he ever will. He came into my room on the evening before I was discharged with a very conversational attitude, asking me questions about how I would care for myself and who would be taking care of me when I got home. Almost like a friend might. He knows I've got lots of little ones at home, and his job is to make sure I'm taken care of, too.

"Accept help from everyone, even your enemies."

This strikes me as a very African thing to say. I hope that doesn't sound culturally ignorant or awkward, because I only mean it in the sense that it seems to come from another culture...a culture where people might actually have formal enemies...a culture where people might actually have enemies who somehow offer to bring them food after they deliver a baby...

But then I realize that I have people that bother me, too. I probably wouldn't label them as "enemies," but I might avoid them on most other occasions. Perhaps the tension between us is unnamed, unknown, uneven. The point is that you should not be so proud as to turn down help from someone who offers it to you in your time of need. Thank them, and lay your irritations aside for a while!

"It's OK to eat off a paper plate."

This, on the other hand, is clearly an American thing to say. And true. Paper plates, or napkins, or right out of the serving bowl, or on the same plate for dinner as you used for lunch...it's all fair game when you've just had a baby.

"No one knows half of what a woman does. And she does it all with a smile!"

By "woman," he of course meant a mother. But there is something sweet about being referred to as a woman at the time when I am most likely to consider myself "mother" before anything else. I am, first of all, a woman, and only a mother second. I like being reminded of that. It's dignifying.

Now, I don't always have a smile on my face when I'm washing dishes, faces, and clothes around our house. In fact, I'm probably frowning most of the time. But his comment reminded me that when I do smile while I'm engaged in these mundane, tiring activities, it's amazing. At least, he thinks it is. I'm glad someone can appreciate that.

"And she is so forgiving. A vengeful woman...this is worse than war."

Again, I'm not always so forgiving. See the above comment regarding frowning. I'm trying, but it's hard, and I fail often. And you know what I've noticed? He's right. When I'm bitter and snapping at children and my husband and finding fault with everyone, we are ALL more miserable. And when I'm able to lay those critical thoughts aside, find reasons to be pleased with them, see the best in their actions, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and at the very least just stay quiet when someone annoys me, the children actually do scream less. It's kind of amazing.

In any case, his comment was a good reminder that my attitude affects my whole family, and I have the ability to foster either a peaceful environment or a very unpleasant, hostile, bitter one. That's a weighty responsibility, but in some ways, empowering to know that I do have the ability to create a climate of love and mercy in my home.


I'm not sure where my OB learned these things, but I would suspect he loves his mother and his wife very much. It seems that in order to have such a profound wisdom about the state of motherhood, one would have to observe a woman and mother very carefully and with great reverence. It makes me wonder what his mother was like, what his wife is like, what their relationships were like. So my OB and I, we don't always see eye-to-eye on everything. But I have to hand it to the man: his respect for women and mothers goes deep. Way deep.

Group B Strep

In addition to that crazy bit about having a baby lying posterior, I was also GBS positive this time around. I apologize for making this disclaimer so often these days, but I'm pretty sure this post will have nothing to do with diabetes.

I know several people who have had a variety of experiences being GBS positive. I know one woman who was GBS positive with her first two vaginal births, received the antibiotics during labor and experienced no complication. I know another woman whose baby became sick because she was GBS positive and didn't go to the hospital soon enough to receive antibiotics after her water broke. I know another woman whose baby was very cranky after she received antibiotics during labor and her baby received them intravenously postpartum. I wasn't GBS positive with my first son, but he did receive antibiotics intravenously for about a week after birth, and he was a very cranky baby, too. I've often wondered if the antibiotics contributed to the problem.

In any case, I was caught off guard by this development at my 36 week visit. It's easy, when you are pregnant the fourth time, to think that everything will be just the same as your previous three. This is especially so when your previous three were so similar to each other (similar baby weights, similar feel during labor, similar gestational delivery dates, similar aches and pains during pregnancy, for example). I've heard of yeast infections being more common in diabetics during pregnancy. I suppose the same could apply to other kinds of bacterial imbalances in the birth canal, I had just never experienced one.

In any case, I took probiotics following the GBS positive diagnosis, and I did receive antibiotics during labor (three doses). IV antibiotics are given 4 hours apart, and the doctors like for you to have at least two doses before baby is born, believing that is sufficient to reduce the risk of infection for the baby. I do suspect, as I almost always suspect when antibiotics are involved with newborns, that it may have made my little man cranky for the first few days after birth. I have no definitive proof of that, only a series of anecdotes, but the suspicion grows over time.

So next time, I think I will take the probiotics before the GBS test. If it's still positive, I will ask them to test again a little closer to my due date (because, let's be honest, I never go into labor before the last week of pregnancy). I hope to avoid antibiotics again in the future, though I will almost certainly take them again if I'm still GBS positive at birth.

Signs Will Childbirth

Welcome to the end of the pregnancy. Perhaps you just stay waiting for a few hours or a few days to a thrilling process of childbirth. But whatever happens you must get ready release the nickname as a potential mother with the full meaning of the word "mother". But before it materializes, we know it's good, actually it started with childbirth signs such as what, until we are sure if we get one of these, energy, mental, and mind will we muster in order to face the process of childbirth.

 

 

On most women, gave birth to the beginning of week 39 and 41 of the gestational age. But due to the long pregnancy every person is different, so many babies that were born on one of these weeks without showing signs of premature or born too late. In the final months of pregnancy, your body produces progesterone, which aims to soften the tissues around the cervix (the cervix connects the uterus and vagina) and the pelvis (pelvis) for the preparation of the process of childbirth. Childbirth in uterine contractions start from now stretch the tissue around the cervix.

Akah bore signs start with the symptoms:

Feels pain in the groin

You will feel pain in the groin because there is pressure as a result of the position of the head of the fetus is already down to the bottom, to the pelvic bones of the skeleton. Because the fetal bladder presses, expectant mothers become frequent urination. You also feel pain in the stomach, heartburn, frequent bowel movements, and the wind.

Pain in the pelvis and spine.

You will feel the pain of excess on the pelvis and the spine. The pain is caused by shifting and movement of the fetus begins to squeeze the spine.

Thick Mucus Discharge Mixed Blood

During pregnancy your baby in utero by clogged mucus (sticky mucus blobs on the neck of the uterus). When labor starts and the cervix begins to open up, mucus BLOBs were dispelled. At the same time, the membrane that surrounds your baby's amniotic fluid and is rather separate from the wall of the uterus. The appearance of blood and mucus that came out looked like a pink colored sticky liquid is a sign you will soon undergo the process of childbirth.

Contraction

It is not unusual to a labor begins with a strong contraction. Initially, a contraction feels like pain in your lower back, which gradually shifts to the lower part of the abdomen. Some describe it similar to heartburn during menstruation. When heartburn stomach fails to move by hand you can feel part of the stomach to harden. His seizure-like contraction of Braxton Hicks (false contractions), but it feels regular, increasingly in line with the progress of the process of childbirth. The uterus is spaced by longitudinal muscles are involuntary muscles that can't you control as you wish. During the process of giving birth, the muscles more and thicken and retracts along with each contraction, and then also the muscles gradually stop thinning, or remove the cervix. This process continued until the opening of the cervix becomes full, the size of the width of 8-10 cm. currently, the magnitude of the openings are no longer measured by fingers. Five fingers mean full aperture.

The early stages of expansion joints of 1-4 cm lasted the longest. The contractions slowly and appear every 15-20 minutes, and then continuing to strengthen and more frequently so that it becomes every three to five minutes, that makes you feel uncomfortable. When the amniotic waters you've broke, better go to the hospital so the contraction feels every 10 minutes. Once dilation servix reach 4 to 5 cm, the contractions will be felt more quickly to like appear wavy. To cope with it, take your breath short-short but fast, and time to draw breath between them will be very brief. It could be said this was the heaviest breeds, which can make you want to get pain relief medication.

Rupture Of Amniotic Water

In some cases, the membrane is still intact until the end of the first stage of labor. Later, urging the contractions and pressure your baby's head at the mouth of the cervix and cause rupture of the amniotic waters.

When the amniotic water begins to leak, you will feel a burst of water seepage or just, but the continuous outbreak of amniotic water actually does not feel, because it has no nerve membranes. Its job is to hold two liters of sterile amniotic water, then come out and clean up the labor. Along with the rupture of the membrane, the process of giving birth will take place quickly. The head of the baby will try hard to open the cervix and presses, and stimulates the pelepasalan prostaglanding to spur your contractions.

Birth Story #4: The Scholar

Our fourth son was born on Monday, June 16 at 9:26 a.m. after about 12 hours of labor, at 39w1d or 39w5d gestation (depending on whose due date you like best). He was eight pounds, eight ounces, 19.5 inches, and had an unbelievably full head of hair!

So I almost went into labor at 36 weeks, but didn't. By the time 39 weeks rolled around, I was finally starting to get a little antsy. I was in quite a bit of pain, most of the day, as is normal for me at the end of pregnancy (and probably most people? I don't know, no one else I know seems to complain as much as I do). Baby was in a posterior lie, which meant that my belly button was being stretched to hitherto unknown dimensions by little feet. My blood pressure had been slightly elevated at my most recent prenatal visit. And on top of the physical distress, we had scheduled my induction for 10 days hence at my most recent prenatal visit. This was, of course, accompanied by the threat that "if anything else happens or your blood pressure hasn't improved by next visit, we're going to move that date up." So I was really anxious to go into labor spontaneously and avoid the somewhat more painful and difficult process of a pitocin induction. (So helpful to be anxious when you're blood pressure's already high).

On Father's Day, we had one of my husband's friends and his family over for dinner. The two other times I went into labor spontaneously, we'd just finished a nice, relaxing meal, so I secretly hoped that might happen this time, too. And sure enough, we got cleaned up, I sat down, and I started to feel contractions that were...different. Unlike other episodes of contractions I'd had in the last 6 weeks, these were more consistent. They were more frequent. Some of them were longer. No matter what I did, they didn't go away. But I could also tell that we had a little bit of time, because they weren't yet especially painful - only a short twinge of pain in the middle of some of them. So I told my husband I'd lie down, and if they didn't go away, I'd like to go to the hospital as soon as possible. They didn't go away, so we went to the hospital. We even got through the intake procedures this time, and I received my first dose of IV antibiotics for GBS positive results from the 36th week of pregnancy.

On the way to the hospital, I was making a great effort to be calm and relaxed. I was making a great effort not to give into the fear and anxiety which childbirth often inspires, but I just couldn't quite shake the fear of what I was about to undergo. I made mention of this to my husband, and he said, "That's completely natural. Even Jesus asked for a way around the pain He knew He would suffer during His Passion. There's nothing wrong with that fear. Perfection is submitting to God's will in spite of the pain." That consoled me. I continued to pray "Thy will be done" throughout all of labor, knowing that in God's will, childbirth almost always includes pain. But love is often proved in pain, and I knew how much I loved this baby. As St. Maximilian Kolbe said, "Let us remember that love lives through sacrifice and is nourished by giving. Without sacrifice, there is no love." So I was mostly able to maintain peace throughout the night with this thought in mind. Jesus, I trust in you, in spite of the pain. Thy will be done, even if it means pain.

Right around 4:30am, I was pretty tired for not having slept all night. The contractions were slowing down and becoming slightly less intense. My water had broken, but just a slow leak with each contraction. While I had been very relaxed and peaceful up until now, I began to lose my composure. I knew they would start to do things to move me along. And as I expected, my doctor came in and called for pitocin. Ugh, I thought. I could see some value in it, to get things moving so that I would have a baby before an infection set in or before I was even more exhausted than I already was. But I also sort of wondered if they left me alone, maybe I could rest and labor would go more smoothly when it resumed? Oh, well. My OB has often intervened when I wish he wouldn't, but nothing terrible has ever happened because of it. Jesus, I trust in you, even when it's not clear what the best way through this is. Thy will be done, even when I have to submit to someone else's judgment.

I received my second dose of antibiotics, and right about 7:30am, my husband mentioned to the nurse that things were starting to heat up. I noticed it too. I had progressed to 7 centimeters, and baby's descent was noticeable. I had also begun to have the dreaded back labor because of baby's posterior lie. I mostly suppressed the back pain by adopting the same position I have in every other labor: sitting up in the hospital bed with the back of the bed raised. I have done this four times now and I seriously cannot figure out how it is ever comfortable to do hard labor in any other position. The thought of having to hold my body up on my hands and knees, or squatting and making it more likely that the baby will just fall right out, or trying to actually use my legs to stand up? I keep waiting, thinking that one of these labors, I will find these activities or positions appealing, but it still hasn't happened yet. In any case, these new back pains were distracting, largely because I worried that it would affect the progress of labor. I know a posterior position from the baby can sometimes make labor stall, and I worried it would. Plus, I worried it be make labor more painful. But no...there's no energy for worrying about these things. Jesus, I trust in you, even if labor stalls. Thy will be done, even if it means this takes forever and hurts more than usual.

The nurse who came on at the morning shift change was pretty chatty. Some of it was helpful, some of it was not. She told us how bad parents don't vaccinate their kids. She was extremely pro-bottle-feeding (but not anti-breastfeeding? One couldn't quite tell). One thing we discussed was how, in my last labor, I came very close to not tearing, but I finally did when I pushed out the shoulders. I rushed that part because the attendants in the room during the last labor seemed a little panicked, and I picked up on their fear and pushed too hard. She told me she had learned about slow pushing from a doctor she worked for in Illinois, and she seemed very convinced that slow pushing would make it possible to avoid tearing. At some point she was telling us about the importance of Kegel exercises. Somehow it seemed either a little too late or a little too early for that conversation...For the most part, however, I avoided responding to her conversation, hoping she would get the message that I was doing some pretty hard work and would rather concentrate than converse. She didn't seem to pick up on the hint though, or she ignored it. Maybe she was nervous? No, probably not. But I can hardly stop talking most of the time, too, so I'm hardly one to complain about that particular fault. Just move on, she's just trying to take care of you. Jesus, I trust in you, even when the people you've placed around me are annoying the heck out of me. Thy will be done, even if it means overlooking the irritating habits of others.

At this point, I thought that perhaps I could will myself into a state of transition, the part of labor where you really think you can't do it anymore but you're actually almost done. I kept purposefully saying things to my husband like, "Wow, this really hurts. I'm not sure I can do this much longer." But apparently he saw right through it, and a little part of me knew I wasn't really there yet, too. At some point, though, it really did hurt so much that I was beginning to suspect that I might not be able to handle it. That was the unfortunate moment when my doctor walked in and checked my cervix, only to pronounce, "she has more work to do." Terrible, terrible words for a psychological moment in which I was tottering on the edge of losing it. I was only 8 centimeters.

I swear, all my own efforts to will myself into transition failed but that one statement actually made it happen. Suddenly, I cried out in an almost involuntary way, "I don't think I can do this anymore!" The nurse asked me what I wanted, and I said, "I don't know." She offered an epidural, but that wasn't what I wanted. My husband said I didn't need one, and that made her mad. Secretly, I knew there wouldn't be time for one. I could tell my husband and the nurse were having a tense, silent struggle over the epidural. I didn't know what I wanted but I did want her to go away. She then offered to change my position in the bed, but I couldn't imagine moving my body enough to do that, either. Finally, someone offered ice chips. YES, SMALL BITS OF FROZEN WATER WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT BEFORE?! OF COURSE THAT'S WHAT I WANT. Jesus, I trust in yougggghh...YOU DIED ON A CROSS, MY GOD, THAT MUST HAVE HURT.

I was, in fact, thinking in the mental equivalent of caps lock at this point during labor. And fortunately, the ice chips did just what I needed them to for the next two contractions: distraction. And as it turns out, I was right: there would have been no time for an epidural. I must have dilated a full centimeter with each of those next two burning, hurting, burning, hurting contractions. Then, with the third contraction, I started pushing because I couldn't not push anymore.

I informed them of the laboring-to-pushing change, but they were still having to tell me to slow down and not push when the next contraction came. Fortunately at least the medical student had his gloves on, and I'm pretty sure he was the only one ready to catch the little man's head. On the fifth contraction after I said I couldn't do it anymore, and about 6 minutes after I started pushing, our baby was all out! His lie had been posterior, but he twisted just enough during his descent to come out facing sideways. I can't say it felt all that different, except the part where my doctor had to dig around inside for the last part of the placenta (NB: the digging around sans epidural is still not more painful than labor, just a painful surprise after you thought you were finished with the most hurt-y part).

And you know how much I struggled with the minor irritations of our nurse? Well, in spite of all the things she said and did which got under my skin, I will always be grateful for the help she gave me at a crucial moment while pushing. She and I both remembered that bit of conversation we had about the doctor in Illinois and the pushing slowly. At exactly the right moment, some time during the two contractions when I was pushing, she said, calmly and slowly, "Remember what we talked about. Gentle and slow." It worked, and in spite of baby's awkward position and my difficulties in accepting her other advice, I experienced no perineal tear. Jesus, I trust in you, and I suppose the annoying people you put around me often benefit me more than my first impression suggests!

And since this is a blog about diabetes and natural childbirth, I suppose I should mention something about my diabetes here, too. Funny how diabetes seems to be less and less of an issue with each pregnancy I go through! My blood sugars were completely normal during this delivery, as they magically seem to have been during all of my labors. My blood sugars stayed in a pretty good range, even during my first and longest birth (30 hours). But I will note that the hospital staff has a little bit of trouble keeping track of what I'm doing. They basically let me do my thing, and they just ask me to tell them when I do something (check my blood sugar, give a bolus, or drink juice). I think we've all figured out that it's not a good idea to wait 10 minutes for them to come check my blood sugar if I feel low or worry that I'm going high, so it makes much more sense for me to just do it myself. But then they're not there when I'm actually doing my diabetes thing, and they forget to ask when they come back in the room. Owing to the fact that I'm in labor at that point, I never remember to tell them, either. So then their records are filled with holes about what my blood sugars were and when and how they got there and even though I'm 100% fine, they've got ants in their pants about all the information they don't have. This same pattern seemed to continue postpartum, too. I felt a little bit guilty about their confusion, but I decided that I have more than enough on my plate to make sure I'm healthy and push a baby out on the day of birth. I'm going to let them sort out how they want to maintain their own records from now on!

Baby had a basically healthy but very uncomfortable first 48 hours, which I will write about in another post. We came home last Wednesday. I swear he's the cutest baby I've ever seen, except for all my others. We love being a family of six!

Early Labor?! But Still No Baby

At about 36 weeks, I had a bout of pre-term labor. Granted, I was barely pre-term at that point, but I was totally unprepared to have a baby. I hadn't given much thought to much of anything except pulling out a box of baby clothes. I didn't have any baby diapers, and I certainly hadn't packed a hospital bag! (NB: The most important part of the hospital bag for me is Gatorade. The upshot of all this is that I just threw a few extra in the back of the car!).

Here's what happened.

My husband had surgery, somewhat unexpectedly, in the middle of May. It was supposed to be a relatively easy, common, outpatient procedure for which he would be discharged the same day and recovery would take 3-6 weeks. He wouldn't be able to sit for about a week, but figured we'd get it out of the way with before baby was born so that he could help me afterwards. And I'd never delivered early, so we thought surely we had about 5 more weeks.

Surgery was difficult, and the next few days of recovery were a bit of a trial for all of us, but we were handling it OK. Sitting was painful, so he would eat dinner standing up and then be found lying down or standing or walking most of the rest of the day.

But then, after about 10 days, the surgical wound became infected, and he was still in quite a bit of pain. Back to the ER he went. This was difficult, but we were still handling it OK.

Then, he woke up the next morning and could barely walk. He'd slipped getting out of the hospital bed the day before, and his Achilles tendon now seemed to be swollen.

Oh, wow. So now, 11 days post-surgery, he couldn't walk, and sitting was excruciatingly painful.

Back to the ER we went.

Not surprisingly, I started to notice some contractions sitting in the car on the way home from the hospital. Contractions continued after I picked him up from the ER, where he got crutches, but fortunately no more serious diagnosis. Contractions continued as I dropped him off to attend the last mass we knew of happening nearby that day. Contractions continued as I sat at the playground with the little boys. Contractions continued, many were more than a minute, and some were as little as 4 minutes apart, as we drove home.

By the time we got home, I was in a panic. My father and mother were out of town and wouldn't be able to watch the boys for us. My husband was also not in great condition to watch the boys. And between the walking and sitting issues, it seemed extremely unlikely that he would be able to either drive me to the hospital OR help me during labor. My sister-in-law had just delivered her baby early, and they were struggling with the ups and downs of his NICU stay, so neither she nor my brother would be able to help, either. I had not even thought to ask for help from anyone else. I had never thought I would need help so soon, nor that all the likely candidates would be unavailable at the same time!

It had also suddenly dawned on me how quickly my last baby was born. If this labor was anything like that one, we would have about two hours from the time I realized I was actually in labor until the birth. The hospital is 45 minutes away on a good day, more like an hour at any time remotely close to rush hour. So that leaves about an hour to figure out one person to take care of the kids and another to drive me to the hospital, and having to accomplish these tasks in between intense contractions, when I might very well need to recover from the last one and prepare for the next, much less make phone calls!

Yikes. As you can imagine, I was very, very grouchy when we got home that Sunday evening. I told my husband that I really needed to take some time to eat, drink, use the bathroom, take a shower, and SIT DOWN, or else I might go into labor. But of course first we needed to put the kids to bed...Poor injured, wounded husband, I think he may have had to do that completely by himself that night. Lord, what would I do without him?

Contractions slowed, and you'd think that might be the end of the story. But then, I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall back asleep because of the contractions. This was exactly how my third labor started, and so I decided we definitely needed to go to the hospital this time. I couldn't bear the thought that dawn and rush hour traffic would come, I would start my day like normal, and then BAM! I would suddenly find myself nearly pushing a baby out into the passenger seat of our car. My mom had arrived home by this point, so we left the boys in her care and headed out.

To make a long story short, contractions continued to slow in the car and while lying in the hospital bed. My wise doctor suggested I walk around for a couple of hours to see if they would come back, but they did not. After about four hours, we left the hospital - dilated 1 cm, 80% effaced, with baby in a posterior vertex lie.

So that's one thing that happened in the last three quiet months!

Selecting the Right Childbirth Classes for You

Though only about 25% of women take birth education classes during their pregnancy, their value is not measurable. The class gave birth to teach parents what to expect, and how to overcome the trials and hardships of pregnancy, labor, and birth. These classes are very good to quell fears and help parents to collect opinions regarding the kind of birth they want to have experience.

Just as it is important to find the right care provider during pregnancy, it is also important to find a childbirth education class that corresponds with one's personal point of view about the birth.

Class A Hospital

The hospital often class taught by a certified childbirth educator by Lamaze, Bradley, or Birthing From Within. However, this does not mean the certification requirements and some hospitals chose not to hire a labor and delivery nurse that may or may not have specific training in natural childbirth. These classes are inexpensive and short, and much better than not taking anything. However, some couples walked away feeling that these classes are not properly preparing them for the big day.

Lamaze

Lamaze class was the most widely known type of classroom delivery. Lamaze focuses on calming, relaxing and breathing purposes. This is the inspiration for many of the educational programs of the newer breeds available for parents.

Bradley

The class was designed by Bradley obstetrician William Bradley. They strongly emphasized the use of a person's romantic partner as a coach. They also focus on nutrition and natural, normal births un-drugs. These classes have traditionally taught by the husband and wife team, both of whom have become certified before teaching the class. Partners are also encouraged to read Dr. Bradley's book "husband got training in childbirth."

Kilroy

Kilroy teaches women techniques of self-hypnosis to endure the pain and discomfort of labor and childbirth. Class Kilroy, Kilroy certified doula, and are growing in popularity. Kilroy is best suited for women who are looking for a quiet, meditative, and drug-free shipping.

Childbirth From The Inside

Childbirth from the inside was designed by Pam, United Kingdom which underwent caesarean section delivery at home change, followed by the delivery of a successful at home. The class takes a holistic approach to pregnancy and birth. The skills being taught are valuable for pregnancy through postpartum and very thorough.

Birth Of the classroom took much more spiritual, transcendent approach than some other options. This class is ideal for women who want to give birth in a hospital or a natural childbirth at home. They are also very valuable for women who plan to have a VBAC because they help women to overcome the trauma and harness the power of their personal.

Most Wanted - A Natural Childbirth

Just why natural childbirth is favored by women? This type of labor performed without the aid of drugs or surgery. Although it may be considered by many as a radical concept, but it comes with a lot of pluses.

The Advantages Of Natural Childbirth:
During labor, the mother is not given drugs to dull the pain. Because he is truly aware of the process of giving birth, she had the experience more fulfilling and wonderful.

He's more in control of his body.

Any drugs that the mother took the baby reaches as well. A natural healthy birth for the baby as she arrived in a State of non-sedated.

There was an instant bond between mother and baby because both conscious and lactation can start soon.

Normal delivery better psychologically for families as well. They don't have to wait for the mother to regain awareness and can join the mother and the baby immediately after birth.

Steps To Natural Childbirth
First, you and your partner have to decide if it is your last choice.

Then you will have to resolve on doctors who recommend and follow this type of delivery.

You will have to undergo training that will:
1. Here's what to expect.
2. Tell You How to manage labor pains.
3. Guide you through the different stages of your work.

A birth plan is to be prepared. This will contain the options you select on the position of the fetal monitoring, medication, etc.

Various Ways To Have A Natural Birth
In homes without assistance.

At home-with the help of a midwife.

In the hospital-doctor planned in advance.

In the hospital--with midwives.

At the center of labor.

Some women have pregnancy the twins were born. They need to be careful before deciding on a natural birth as their risky and complicated pregnancies. So speak out with doctors is a wise choice.

New age or options gave birth to radical including water birth and hypnosis in childbirth. Selection of water birth is when the woman gave birth to a baby while she's sitting in a tub of warm water. Methods of hypnosis give birth is when a woman is hypnotized into a State of complete mind control during childbirth. He should feel very little pain during this method. However, one of these options should also think more and discussed with your doctor before being resolved.

Remember, for centuries, women have given birth to babies through normal childbirth method, so there is no harm in checking this option out.