I'm the kind of person who likes to plan and organise. I like to be prepared. Not that I go to pieces if my plans fall through or things don't quite go to plan, it's just that I like to think I'm ready. It gives me a small sense of achievement if something I organise pays off. A well packed bag, a thought out route, a well laid garden bed.
Often things don't go to plan. This is the nature of motherhood. Being ready to leave for work on time and stopping to enjoy life for a few extra moments, like the rainbow the Bright Spark and I stopped to look at the other day instead of getting him into the Husbands car for the daycare drop off. The Husband subsequently ran a little late for work. Actually as it wasn't my plans that were thwarted, maybe that doesn't count.
Birth is not something that can really be planned for. I feel prepared. Kind of. Didn't actually make it to an Active Birth class, but I read the book. I understand the basic physiology of labour. I'm drinking raspberry leaf tea. I can count the minutes between contractions. I did some reading up on new born baby care. That did make me think twice about the whole having an infant thing. But then the Husband pointed out it was a little late to reneg on that decision and I'd better get used to the idea of sleep disturbance and sore nipples pretty quickly based on the size of my belly.
Despite not being able to plan for birth, I think having a birth plan is part of the preparation for labour. For me it's about clear communication of the type of birth I'm hoping for, a natural labour. Last week I finally put a birth plan down on paper. More a birth philosophy really. Let me stay upright, encourage me. Don't offer me drugs, I'll ask for them if I need them. That sort of thing. Also things like let my son have skin to skin contact with me and breastfeed early. It's what I'd like to happen if all goes well and there is no reason for these things not to happen.
I also put in things like "show me the placenta". I'm a biologist by nature and I have a slight academic curiosity about the placenta. I'd just like to see it. Not eat it or bury it under a fruit tree. Just want to have a bit of a look at the marvellous organ that has kept my son alive all these months. I didn't even think about it with the Bright Spark until it was too late, so this time it's in the birth plan.
I also included some affirmations and some visualisations. Stuff like "contractions are pain with reason" and "imagine you are swimming with dolphins". A little new age-y, a little bit Earth mother-ish, but stuff that might work. My mother claims that doing affirmations before a university exam got her enabled her to excel at the exam. It was the only time her exam mark was better than her course percentage. And why not think about swimming with dolphins when in the throws of a contraction if it helps to release endorphins and keep me away from an epidural. I'll give it a try.
The other thing I'm doing differently of course, is going to term, which changes the management of labour and gives me more freedom because if things are going well I shouldn't need continuous monitoring and I'll be able to be out of bed, bounce on a birth ball, soak in a shower and move at will. Going to term is not something I can plan of course, but I have managed to this time, after the Bright Spark was born at 36 weeks.
So I typed my birth plan, affirmations and visualisations. I printed them onto coloured paper and even laminated the affirmations and visualisations so I an take them into the shower with me (that made me feel very organised). I folded up the copies neatly; green paper for us, yellow for the midwife on duty. I put them at the top of my open suitcase with some photos of the Bright Spark and some ultrasound printouts of the Unborn Unit. I was ready. A couple of days later I came into the room to find the copies on the floor. The cats had eaten my birth plan. Chunks had been taken out of my neat printouts and little bits of yellow and green confetti were scattered over the floor. This sort of thing you can't plan for really. So I printed them again and secured them inside a bag where they couldn't be tampered with by a bored feline.
So the birth plan is done, the bag is packed and I'm feeling as ready as I need to be. Which is good, because I've been sitting here on my birth ball for a few hours typing away and timing contractions. I'm not sure if this is strong pre-labour or early labour. If I'm lucky it's established labour and I get to be one of those people that walks into the hospital 8 cm dilated and laughing. It feels real this time and I think the Unborn Unit may become the Born Unit today.
The Bright Spark has joined me now and I feel like I need to spend some time with him before these contractions get on top of me. I'll finish this up before he finishes watching "Franklin and Friends" on the iPad and then maybe we can have our usual breakfast ritual together. I think his world is going to change forever today.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Is this It?
So here I sit, on my fit ball at 2.35 am on Sunday knowing this is not It but wondering if it will develop into It this time. Not that I'm a hurry to see this baby into the world enough to medically intervene, but my bladder would really like some more room and my pelvis would like a little break from the pushes and shoves of a developing foetus.
So the reason I sit here is because at my last anti-natal appointment the midwife suggested that if I started to get niggles in the middle of the night again I may want to get up and work with them to see if I can get them to go somewhere. After being woken up by the Bright Spark at about 1.30 am, for a drink and a dummy, I went back to bed with the niggles. A little cramping, a few Braxton-Hicks tightenings.
So there I lay feeling the niggles for about three quarters of an hour. And here I am now still feeling them, every now and then...
2.41 am
I know that each labour is different and that second labour are suposed to be faster than the first. The Bright Spark entered this world about six and a half hours after my first contraction and I'm hoping that his brother will be faster, but I'm not going to put money on it. He's stayed in longer, making us wonder whether the obstetricians jokes about induction will become actual plans. I'm not against medical intervention where necessary, access to the best medical technology is one of the reasons we chose to live in a big city during my childbearing years and have made the financial sacrifices of engaging a private obstetrician...
2.55 am (there was one in between but I had to take a quick toilet break)
...but I would like to avoid the potential cascade of interventions that can follow an induction and failure to progress. I have faith in my body's ability to push out a child. I got through labour last time, albeit with a little help to get the Bright Spark out at the end due to foetal distress (we joke that he was pulled out with salad tongs). I had an intense but short labour, aided by an epidural after the 3rd hour.
This time I would like to avoid the epidural. This is my Everest and I'm planning to summit without oxygen. I'll have it there in my pack, just in case I get stuck an a storm near the peak. I know most people taking my route use oxygen but I hear that the view from the peak is better without it. My support team knows my plans and I have come a little more prepared than last time. I've got a good Sherpa, he's a little concerned but I know if I fall into a glacier he'll be there on my belay line to pull me out. Sure, I'm a little trepidatious about the journey, but many people have summitted before me and I'll keep them in mind as I make the journey.
3.10 am
It does seem though that the journey will not start tonight though. I feel like I'm stuck at base camp, ready to go but I'm happy for a few more days of preparation before I set of. It seems tonight's niggles were just another training run, and I'm going to retire to my tent for a few hours sleep before the Bright Spark wakes me with in a few hours for cuddles and books.
3.19 am
I'll go back to drinking my Raspberry leaf tea and sitting in my fit ball and practising affirmations and visualisations. I may even start to consider a few other natural ways to get things moving, although the Husband and I will have to get a little creative with positions in the bedroom if we're going to try that tried and tested method.
So for now this is not It but I'll keep you posted.
3.26 am
So the reason I sit here is because at my last anti-natal appointment the midwife suggested that if I started to get niggles in the middle of the night again I may want to get up and work with them to see if I can get them to go somewhere. After being woken up by the Bright Spark at about 1.30 am, for a drink and a dummy, I went back to bed with the niggles. A little cramping, a few Braxton-Hicks tightenings.
So there I lay feeling the niggles for about three quarters of an hour. And here I am now still feeling them, every now and then...
2.41 am
I know that each labour is different and that second labour are suposed to be faster than the first. The Bright Spark entered this world about six and a half hours after my first contraction and I'm hoping that his brother will be faster, but I'm not going to put money on it. He's stayed in longer, making us wonder whether the obstetricians jokes about induction will become actual plans. I'm not against medical intervention where necessary, access to the best medical technology is one of the reasons we chose to live in a big city during my childbearing years and have made the financial sacrifices of engaging a private obstetrician...
2.55 am (there was one in between but I had to take a quick toilet break)
...but I would like to avoid the potential cascade of interventions that can follow an induction and failure to progress. I have faith in my body's ability to push out a child. I got through labour last time, albeit with a little help to get the Bright Spark out at the end due to foetal distress (we joke that he was pulled out with salad tongs). I had an intense but short labour, aided by an epidural after the 3rd hour.
This time I would like to avoid the epidural. This is my Everest and I'm planning to summit without oxygen. I'll have it there in my pack, just in case I get stuck an a storm near the peak. I know most people taking my route use oxygen but I hear that the view from the peak is better without it. My support team knows my plans and I have come a little more prepared than last time. I've got a good Sherpa, he's a little concerned but I know if I fall into a glacier he'll be there on my belay line to pull me out. Sure, I'm a little trepidatious about the journey, but many people have summitted before me and I'll keep them in mind as I make the journey.
3.10 am
It does seem though that the journey will not start tonight though. I feel like I'm stuck at base camp, ready to go but I'm happy for a few more days of preparation before I set of. It seems tonight's niggles were just another training run, and I'm going to retire to my tent for a few hours sleep before the Bright Spark wakes me with in a few hours for cuddles and books.
3.19 am
I'll go back to drinking my Raspberry leaf tea and sitting in my fit ball and practising affirmations and visualisations. I may even start to consider a few other natural ways to get things moving, although the Husband and I will have to get a little creative with positions in the bedroom if we're going to try that tried and tested method.
So for now this is not It but I'll keep you posted.
3.26 am
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Hell fortnight
Yesterday I cracked a tooth. Not just a little chip, but cracked a premolar in two. It seems that the larger piece is also no longer attached to the root and I think I'm going to end up with a crown at best, or an implant at worst. One small blessing is that it's not painful, so I can wait until tomorrow to see the dentist in relative comfort. The reason for the lack of pain is the root canal treatment I had done in November last year, during the second month of my pregnancy.
This was part of the hell fortnight I had last year.
It involved morning sickness, two jobs, a root canal, an ear infection, a sick cat, a bout of gastro and an uncomfortable fungal infection.
It started with the pregnancy. I must have been about seven weeks along and all day sickness had kicked in. Nausea from the moment I woke until the moment I fell asleep again, vomiting a few times a day and just generally feeling tired and crappy, as is common in early pregnancy. So I munched dried crackers and fruit and sipped water to manage it as best I could. I had morning sickness with the Bright Spark as well, but this was a little worse and coming at the end of a busy school year. Fortunately classes were winding up and my contact hours with students were decreasing so I was able to snack at will to manage the nausea.
This was one of the reasons for the second job. I had decided after 9 years of teaching final year Biology I really should get some experience with external exam marking. Our university bound students sit an exam at the end of each of their courses, known as the Western Australian Certificate of Education Exams (WACE Exams). The results of these exams contribute to their university entrance score, the Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR), so they're the stressful culmination of a year of hard study for our year 12 students. It's considered excellent professional development to have some experience marking the exams and it was something I'd been meaning to do for a few years so I applied in June before I was pregnant and had received a position as a marker in early October, also before I was pregnant. But between saying I would participate and the actual exam being sat I had sunken into the fatigue and nausea of early pregnancy. But I could still do two jobs at once as well as being a mother and house wife. The Husband would pitch in more for a couple of weeks and the Bright Spark would spend a few extra hours in childcare, but the money would help out around Christmas and it would be a good career move for me. A few small sacrifices for some gain. So I attended the three hour Friday night session to learn the marking key with a bag of dried fruit and crackers and at all started well.
That Saturday night I developed a bit of a tooth ache. I thought I'd hurt my gum and was developing a bit of in infection, something that had happened a couple of times during my pregnancy with the Bright Spark. I turned down the Husband's offer to do a midnight run to the chemist but as the night wore on and the pain got worse I was beginning to think there might be more to it than just sore gums. After an early morning run to a chemist for codine and booking an emergency appointment with a dentist I was diagnosed with a root canal infection and the first stage of root canal treatment was done. This was the start of several days of pain followed by another root canal treatment. In the middle of this I was also diagnosed with an ear infection which had followed a head cold from the previous week. Now the pain from an inner ear infection can be pretty uncomfortable, but coupled with the pain of the root canal infection and treatment I was in agony for a couple of days. It was, however, at this point that I decided I could do natural childbirth. If I could handle this pain pushing out a baby would be a walk in the park. So I took as much paracetamol and codine as was safe and pushed though. Eventually the pain subsided, the antibiotics did their job and I could walk around without every step sending shooting pain through my jaw. I did a few hours marking and even managed to turn up to work for one day that week.
Then came the sick cat. Actually the cat had been a point of concern for a few weeks and things weren't improving. Dippy, our little feral from Carnarvon, was not doing well, showing signs of respiratory distress and off her food. She'd lost a bit of weight over the previous few months while we'd been distracted by miscarriage and new pregnancy and now after a week on medication she was doing no better. We made the decision to have her euthanased after a series of tests. We said goodbye to another beloved pet. She was a quiet little tortishell with a bob tail, probably from an injury sustained as a kitten. She was an untouchable fascination to the Bright Spark and "Dippy" was one of his first words. We used this as a chance to give him a lesson about death, letting him pat her after she had passed away. This was the first time he had really been able to lay hands on her and after a vigorous pat good bye and an explanation that mum was sad because Dippy had died and gone to heaven, while carefully dodging the words "gone to sleep" we left her at the vet.
I negotiated to reduce the number of exams I would mark and with the help of my colleagues at school I managed to complete final weeks of term and see my students to their exams. I was sad at losing Dippy, relieved that the root canal treatment was done for now and almost finished my antibiotics. Then came another hit. Gastro.
When our son spent his first winter in daycare he experienced many colds and had a runny nose for most of winter. We became experts at diagnosing colds in their early stages and using steamy showers to help clear a stuffy little nose became part of our bedtime routine. We thought colds were pretty bad and went out of our way to avoid kids who were symptomatic in an effort to reduce our viral load. We were relieved when spring arrived and the Bright Spark's nose dried up after months. Things were looking up. Until gastro struck.
Gastroenteritis is a blanket term used to describe a range a bacterial and viral infections that cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. They also cause mummy fatigue, washing over load and daddy downfall in our house. You see when the Husband gets gastro he goes down like he's been shot. He vomits uncontrollably, dehydrates quickly and requires home visits from doctors to have shots of anti-nausea medication into his bum. It's pretty nasty for him. The first time the Bright Spark had it we had to take a trip to the hospital for rehydration. We also managed to share it with his Nana and Aunt, all over the hectic Christmas period. So the first signs of diarrhoea and nausea send us to battle stations.
The bout of gastro that hit me during the hell fortnight was, fortunately, relatively mild and required a few days off work to rest and hydrate. I was already nauseous and tired from pregnancy, I was happy to take a few more days off work to put my feet up and focus on drinking electrolyte solutions. It was thought that the antibiotics had probabl started it and it passed pretty quickly. Then came the final blow.
As they had interfered with my gut flora, the antibiotics for my ear infection had also interfered with the fine balance in other parts of my anatomy and I developed thrush for the first time in years. So now I could add itchy and sore to tired and nauseous. I was also a little over worked too. After another trip to the chemist and the application of some soothing cream "down there" I powered through the finally hundred exam questions and beat the deadline for completion of marking. I also managed to turn up to work a few more days and get though the pile of marking from my teaching job. The year was coming to a rapid end and I had survived a complicated and exhausting fortnight.
I was booked to have the final part of my root canal treatment completed six weeks after my son is due. Unfortunately the oat bar I was snacking on yesterday had other plans for my poor tooth and now I await tomorrows appointment to find out what will become of it. After years of good dental health it seems that pregnancy, and muesli bars, have once again taken their toll on my teeth. So fingers crossed for tomorrow's trip to the dentist and lets hope I don't go into labour in the next 24 hours. I don't really want to be able to do a direct comparison of the pain of dental treatment against the pain of labour.
Postscript; After 26 months I am just about to recieve the crown for my implant to replace the tooth I lost while pregnant with the little Prince. It has been a long journey, but in two days my smile will finally be complete again!
This was part of the hell fortnight I had last year.
It involved morning sickness, two jobs, a root canal, an ear infection, a sick cat, a bout of gastro and an uncomfortable fungal infection.
It started with the pregnancy. I must have been about seven weeks along and all day sickness had kicked in. Nausea from the moment I woke until the moment I fell asleep again, vomiting a few times a day and just generally feeling tired and crappy, as is common in early pregnancy. So I munched dried crackers and fruit and sipped water to manage it as best I could. I had morning sickness with the Bright Spark as well, but this was a little worse and coming at the end of a busy school year. Fortunately classes were winding up and my contact hours with students were decreasing so I was able to snack at will to manage the nausea.
This was one of the reasons for the second job. I had decided after 9 years of teaching final year Biology I really should get some experience with external exam marking. Our university bound students sit an exam at the end of each of their courses, known as the Western Australian Certificate of Education Exams (WACE Exams). The results of these exams contribute to their university entrance score, the Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR), so they're the stressful culmination of a year of hard study for our year 12 students. It's considered excellent professional development to have some experience marking the exams and it was something I'd been meaning to do for a few years so I applied in June before I was pregnant and had received a position as a marker in early October, also before I was pregnant. But between saying I would participate and the actual exam being sat I had sunken into the fatigue and nausea of early pregnancy. But I could still do two jobs at once as well as being a mother and house wife. The Husband would pitch in more for a couple of weeks and the Bright Spark would spend a few extra hours in childcare, but the money would help out around Christmas and it would be a good career move for me. A few small sacrifices for some gain. So I attended the three hour Friday night session to learn the marking key with a bag of dried fruit and crackers and at all started well.
That Saturday night I developed a bit of a tooth ache. I thought I'd hurt my gum and was developing a bit of in infection, something that had happened a couple of times during my pregnancy with the Bright Spark. I turned down the Husband's offer to do a midnight run to the chemist but as the night wore on and the pain got worse I was beginning to think there might be more to it than just sore gums. After an early morning run to a chemist for codine and booking an emergency appointment with a dentist I was diagnosed with a root canal infection and the first stage of root canal treatment was done. This was the start of several days of pain followed by another root canal treatment. In the middle of this I was also diagnosed with an ear infection which had followed a head cold from the previous week. Now the pain from an inner ear infection can be pretty uncomfortable, but coupled with the pain of the root canal infection and treatment I was in agony for a couple of days. It was, however, at this point that I decided I could do natural childbirth. If I could handle this pain pushing out a baby would be a walk in the park. So I took as much paracetamol and codine as was safe and pushed though. Eventually the pain subsided, the antibiotics did their job and I could walk around without every step sending shooting pain through my jaw. I did a few hours marking and even managed to turn up to work for one day that week.
Then came the sick cat. Actually the cat had been a point of concern for a few weeks and things weren't improving. Dippy, our little feral from Carnarvon, was not doing well, showing signs of respiratory distress and off her food. She'd lost a bit of weight over the previous few months while we'd been distracted by miscarriage and new pregnancy and now after a week on medication she was doing no better. We made the decision to have her euthanased after a series of tests. We said goodbye to another beloved pet. She was a quiet little tortishell with a bob tail, probably from an injury sustained as a kitten. She was an untouchable fascination to the Bright Spark and "Dippy" was one of his first words. We used this as a chance to give him a lesson about death, letting him pat her after she had passed away. This was the first time he had really been able to lay hands on her and after a vigorous pat good bye and an explanation that mum was sad because Dippy had died and gone to heaven, while carefully dodging the words "gone to sleep" we left her at the vet.
I negotiated to reduce the number of exams I would mark and with the help of my colleagues at school I managed to complete final weeks of term and see my students to their exams. I was sad at losing Dippy, relieved that the root canal treatment was done for now and almost finished my antibiotics. Then came another hit. Gastro.
When our son spent his first winter in daycare he experienced many colds and had a runny nose for most of winter. We became experts at diagnosing colds in their early stages and using steamy showers to help clear a stuffy little nose became part of our bedtime routine. We thought colds were pretty bad and went out of our way to avoid kids who were symptomatic in an effort to reduce our viral load. We were relieved when spring arrived and the Bright Spark's nose dried up after months. Things were looking up. Until gastro struck.
Gastroenteritis is a blanket term used to describe a range a bacterial and viral infections that cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. They also cause mummy fatigue, washing over load and daddy downfall in our house. You see when the Husband gets gastro he goes down like he's been shot. He vomits uncontrollably, dehydrates quickly and requires home visits from doctors to have shots of anti-nausea medication into his bum. It's pretty nasty for him. The first time the Bright Spark had it we had to take a trip to the hospital for rehydration. We also managed to share it with his Nana and Aunt, all over the hectic Christmas period. So the first signs of diarrhoea and nausea send us to battle stations.
The bout of gastro that hit me during the hell fortnight was, fortunately, relatively mild and required a few days off work to rest and hydrate. I was already nauseous and tired from pregnancy, I was happy to take a few more days off work to put my feet up and focus on drinking electrolyte solutions. It was thought that the antibiotics had probabl started it and it passed pretty quickly. Then came the final blow.
As they had interfered with my gut flora, the antibiotics for my ear infection had also interfered with the fine balance in other parts of my anatomy and I developed thrush for the first time in years. So now I could add itchy and sore to tired and nauseous. I was also a little over worked too. After another trip to the chemist and the application of some soothing cream "down there" I powered through the finally hundred exam questions and beat the deadline for completion of marking. I also managed to turn up to work a few more days and get though the pile of marking from my teaching job. The year was coming to a rapid end and I had survived a complicated and exhausting fortnight.
I was booked to have the final part of my root canal treatment completed six weeks after my son is due. Unfortunately the oat bar I was snacking on yesterday had other plans for my poor tooth and now I await tomorrows appointment to find out what will become of it. After years of good dental health it seems that pregnancy, and muesli bars, have once again taken their toll on my teeth. So fingers crossed for tomorrow's trip to the dentist and lets hope I don't go into labour in the next 24 hours. I don't really want to be able to do a direct comparison of the pain of dental treatment against the pain of labour.
Postscript; After 26 months I am just about to recieve the crown for my implant to replace the tooth I lost while pregnant with the little Prince. It has been a long journey, but in two days my smile will finally be complete again!
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