I'm almost 19 weeks now, and everything seems to be going well. I had a checkup at about 17 weeks (about 1 1/2 weeks ago). I was a little disappointed because we still couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat. Sherry said she "needs" to hear it by 20 weeks, but "likes" to hear it earlier. I sure wanted to hear it earlier, too! But, I'm pretty sure everything is OK with baby, because I have been feeling movements off and on over the past week or so. Definite baby flutters! So I am excited about that. Hopefully the baby won't be playing hide-and-seek at my next appt. and we will be able to get the heartbeat right away. My next appt. is Dec. 10th--I'll keep you all posted.
I've been skimming through Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin, one of America's best known midwives. I borrowed it from Sherry. Even though I've already had two babies, I'm learning some new stuff from this book. It's very interesting and easy to read. I wish I'd read it before I had my first!
I'm really hoping and praying for a quick and easy labor like I had with Julia. From most of the things I've heard and read, third babies are a law unto themselves, though. :) One book (by another midwife) said that normally first labors are slow, second labors are fast, and third labors can be totally different from either of the first two. So here's my . . .
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: For those of you who've had three kids or more, what was the length/difficulty of each one? (Of course anyone can share their labor experience, but I'm especially interested in seeing the comparison between those with at least 3 kids!) My own labors so far were 5 1/2 hours (Sam) and between 2 to 2 1/2 hours (Julia).
About Me
- Carrie
- Mommy to our four kiddos: Sam, Julia, Josiah and Ari. Married to the love of my life for eighteen happy years. Loves music, writing, reading, cooking, and sewing. Does not love doing dishes and cleaning showers. :) Blessed to be living my dream.
7 comments:
I read that book when I was pregnant with Sydney and wished I had read it earlier as well. I've had really easy labor and deliveries with every one of my kiddos, although they were all different. I got "stuck" at 6 cm with Sydney for pretty much a whole day (although I wasn't in pain at all), but I think it was because she was face up. Once my water broke, I immediately went to 10 and she came quickly, which was just like Calvin. So it was different but in many ways similar. I'm strange though and am always excited to see how labor is going to be with each one. It's just such a neat thing.
All four were different. #1 took 16.5 hours. #2 took about 3.5 hours. #3 I was induced, told to expect baby by noon the following day (went in at 8pm); labor started around 9:30 and baby was born 6.5 hours later. #4 took about 3 hours (I think...my memory is a bit blurred with that)
The fourth was definitely the easiest, also the smallest by 2 pounds and the only one to come early.
1&2 were each 8 hours,#1 was easiest of all, #2 was terrible.
#3 was 9 hours (I joked I did overtime for my girl)#4 was over 20,# 5 & 6 ,30 ish. The after birth has always been even harder than the birth. #1 was also my biggest baby at over 9lbs. #2 Tiniest at close to 6lbs. My sister-in-law has 7 and here longest was 4 hours.
That book had just come out when I was at the end of my pregnancy with Isaac. I didn't read it, but my midwife said it was very good. Incidentally, the "Gaskin Maneuver" (to correct stuck shoulders) probably saved me and Isaac a lot of misery. Kudos to my midwife for reading up on those techniques!
As you know, #3 for us has been a challenge since day 1. ~grin~ #1labor was 6 hours, #2, 4 hours, and #3, 23 hours. My long labor was not hard, just slow. In fact, none of my labors were hard until transition. I think Nathan could tell when I was in transition because I shut up. :)
Possible reasons for the discrepency in my labors include closeness in spacing of our last two children and size of the baby.
Wow, it was so much fun reading all your responses! I think I mainly need to keep reminding myself to expect anything . . . and keep praying for a nice short one. :)
Mindee--the book talks a bit about a few births where Ina May used that manuever for babies w/stuck shoulders and I immediately thought of you. :) She sounds like a really neat lady, even though some of the stories in the book are pretty "out there" (many being from the early hippie days of homebirthing :))--I get a kick out of reading them, though!
I haven't read the book, maybe I will with my next baby although I won't be able to have a home birth or midwife. #1 was 3 hours, # 2 was 7 hours, and #3 was 45 minutes (I'm counting each of these from the time water broke). I can't imagine any labor going as quickly as Julia's though.
Well, I can't tell you how many hours of labor for each birth. For me, each delivery has been shorter and easer than the one before it. What surprised me (and a friend who had just had her third also) was that the amount of bleeding after was much lighter and shorter. I'm hoping that #6 will be as easy as #5 and with #5 I only had three contractions that were difficult. Also, since #3 I have only need to push 2-3 times for each child. I see Julia came with only a couple of pushes too. So, maybe it will be just as easy next time.
Post a Comment