(2006/05) May 2006 MTB

[ss1]

Little Nana
Better take care. Dun faint!
I'll opt for all natural again this time, without gas/pethadine/epidural. I believe it can be done. I attended some talks lately about painfree labour, my conclusion is that the pain is all in our mind. Just visualise a painfree labour and have faith in yourself. Main thing is to relax and don't tense up. Anyway, you can check out some info on hypno birthing too, I think it's quite popular in the UK and US. All the best!

Joyce
If you experience pain again, don't panic. Just try your best at that moment to relax, take deep breath. Sometimes it's our stress or busy life that create such pain and "contraction". Well, take this opportunity to practice your breathing for labour too! Take care!

TMC mummies
Can anyone lend me the antenatal book by Mrs Wong?

 

[yas]

Good Morning All!

Zach's mum, you are such a strong mummy. For me I like mentally prepared for epi, eventhough I keep telling myself that I want to try without it.

I had a dream that I gave birth at 30 or 32 wks and baby's weigt is 1.4+. But baby looked quite big leh.Funny dream.

Yesterday bought some towels, kiddy palace was selling 3 towels for $10. Not very soft but ok. Saw a minnie mouse towel, very soft, but costly at $16.90.
Still need to buy playpen mattress, cover, pillows, sterillizer, bottles, powder, shampoo, food/milk warmer, cotton buds and what else. Must think. Yesterday bought stroller from kiddy palace, $225. Quite heavy but very sturdy. I liked it, hope baby likes it too.

Bookworm, Dr Ong has not talked to me abt PD yet. Next week is my appt, will check with him. When is your next appt?

 

[ss1]

Yasmin
I also dreamed I gave birth already! 30 weeks only! Scary man...

I told hubby that's a nightmare.

 

[yas]

kekekeke....looks like its a common dream/nightmare. I think we are all now anticipating the arrival of our NB and subconsciously go to bed thinking abt it and it manifest in the form of dreams.

 

[maymummy]

Hi ladies,

Long time never come in to post .... been so stressed up and busy with work.... last week ...got a bad scare when I saw some blood strips on my panty liner ....8( ... luckily after monitor for awhile ...i think its a pimple .... 8) ...then over the weekend got some needle like pain at tummy .... but I think is just tummy stretching ... now start to gan cheong liao .... me still haven packed my bag and still got alot of things not buy yet ....

 

[maymummy]

Hi fates,

Sorry ...can u amend my hosiptal to Mt alvernia again... haha.... had a hard time making up my mind.... initially after the hospital tour at both hospitals....our mind is all set for TMC ..... but our recent visit to our gyane seems that she prefers Mt A over TMC .... and recently we went to TMC during the peak hrs .... we were being stuck at the U -turn for quite awhile ... cannot imgaine how it will be like if I am in labour pain .... I think 5 mins also seems very very long .... and after toking to a few freinds whom delivers at Mt A .... we tot better to go along to with the hospital tt our gyane is more comfy with ... and also nearer to our place .... 8)

 

[ying_bin]

gals,
Gd morning, its monday.. yappee..another new week..

Luckly to see some gals have nightmares like me.. thought i m the only weird one.. but d read from book that such dreams aren't uncommon for those who are going to due soon.. hehe...
However, my dream seemed to be more eee than anyone here.. in my dream, i found myself covered with a pool of blood; i keep looking for my baby... i couldnt find anyone beside me, not even nurse or gynea or even my hubby.. scary rite...
Bad news, my boy actually sits on my left side tummy, making my lower abdomen in sharp pain whenever i stand up n try to walk.. sigh.. he hasnt turn yet..

 

[bookworm]

hi gals

i have been losing sleep. Keep getting up in the middle of the night to go toilet. Now at least 4 times. gosh. Worst, i cannot seem to sleep after that.

 

[ying_bin]

bookworm,
think yr baby dun like to sleep at night.. must b tough since u have 2 work during daytime..
try to gap more sleep over the weekend like me if u cant take leave.. i sleep almost 14 hrs during weekend.. on e aircon n fan to fight again e hot weather..

 

[yas]

Hi bookworm, me too have to wake up at the middle of the night to pee but not as often as you. Must be quite hard on you. Maybe your baby has alot of hair leh thats why causing you to pee so much......kekekeke its only old wives tale. Not sure if thats true.

Annie, my baby was breech position all along and only last week turned down. But not sure if will remain that way. Feel more movement now. Heard movements the most this period and will slow down soon. Sometimes when my baby moves, i feel the whole tummy hardening.

I bought the food/milk warmer from OG today.

Ivy, i have not got a maid yet. I might be going off to Aust sooner than planned. So will not be able to meet the contract criteria of 2 years. Really dont know what to do...

 

[marbride]

yasmin,

you might want to consider a transfer maid then. You will be able to take them for lesser than 2 years since they have worked elsewhere for a while.

 

[yas]

Thanks for the info Ivy.

 

[ying_bin]

yasmin,
so good, depend, if yr tummy got enough space and yr baby is playful, somehow sure turn up and down before labour.. like my niece.. u can feel e turn..
I am not that lucky, my son still laying instead of breech, gynea stated that low placenta mostly dun have space for him to turn..
Some breech cases can actually go natural delivery but of cos risk involved since baby buttock comes out first..

Maid does really help a lot especially ease e burden of doing household chores.. however, on the hand, maid oso got lots of problem.. y not u choose those older age like near to 40 years old.. less playful and more mature in thinking n looking things..

 

[milo66]

hi mummies,

me back from my gynae visit this morn.. he started me on fetal movement chart, anyone doing that already?

very happy that gynae is pleased with my glucose monitoring now reduce to doing 1 x a week.. my boy is now at 1.830 kg at week 31..

 

[yas]

annie, me too think of getting an older maid. Must look out for it.
My son was breech position till eve of his birth. Also initially my gynae said that placenta abit low but moved up in time.

Milo, your baby very good weight. Really a good boy!

 

[ying_bin]

milo66,

i did for a week then give up, v troublesome.. according to the book that i read, u draw a chart then with a 15 min interval 24 hours... put a tick if your baby move at that time.. end of the day, count e movement, if less than 10, put a remark below..

Reason to do so, gynea wants to ensure your baby has enough air to breathe inside the placenta when he suspects not.. dun need to be so worry.. just do a chart..

 

[ying_bin]

yasmin,
so good, depend, if yr tummy got enough space and yr baby is playful, somehow sure turn up and down before labour.. like my niece.. u can feel e turn..
I am not that lucky, my son still laying instead of breech, gynea stated that low placenta mostly dun have space for him to turn..
Some breech cases can actually go natural delivery but of cos risk involved since baby buttock comes out first..

Maid does really help a lot especially ease e burden of doing household chores.. however, on the hand, maid oso got lots of problem.. y not u choose those older age like near to 40 years old.. less playful and more mature in thinking n looking things..

 

[gummiebear]

hello gals,

i've been feeling groggy the whole day... thought i was tired from the weekend rush but now i'm beginning to feel like i'm falling sick? i was with my niece who was recovering from HFMD yesterday, i dun suppose i'm feeling weak now becos of that???

i wished i cld find some bed to lie down now

 

[marbride]

yasmin,

not too old. Cos too old, you will have a problem teaching and she will not have as much energy as a younger person.

Milo,

your bb is really good. I think your BB is prob another 300g more than than cos gynae is only rough estimate. I was at gynae last Tue, he est 1.3kg, but when i go to TMC for another detailed scan in the afternoon, the weight becomes 1.6kg. The sonagrapher told me that detailed scan is more accurate..
I am forcing myself to eat more these days cos gynae feel that BB is too small..haha..

 

[yas]

Ivy,
if baby's wt is 1.6, then it is of gd weight. According to the baby's centre on the average fetal length and weight chart. Babies at wk30 shld be ard 1.319kg. Did gynae say that if you eat more, baby will be able to grow bigger?

 

[marbride]

yasmin,

i am at week 31 and 3 days now. Gynae was just concerned that the blood flow to BB is not so good. If i try to eat more, then at least higher chance of BB absorbing more and grow bigger. But really, i dun eat a lot these days. 3 meals a day but small portion ( rice only 1/4 bowl) only...

 

[little_nana]

hi Zach's mum..


I'll be good girl taking iron to prevent anaemic getting worse

Thanks for ur regards!

I had a discussion on pain relief with my OBS he was saying that pethadine and morphine will hve effects on the neonate. Neonate will feel sleepy after birth n might hve problem with nursing. You might re-consider pethandine as a pain relief.
As for hypno-birth, i'll do some reading. If i'm not wrong i've gotta hire someone outside to do it. kekeke... anyhow, i've better make up my mind n go for MOBILE EPIDURAL!!! kekeke...

 

[ss1]

Little Nana

Indeed, all medication used by us will be passed on to the baby thru the placenta. That's why I'll do my best to go without drugs again.

As for hypno-birth, I'm not sure what's the norm in the UK, maybe having a doula is recommended. But over here, we can take courses and practice with hubby. I think hubby will get some "training" to help calm the wife during labour.

 

[little_nana]

Hi zach'mum

I was told by the midwife and OBS that Epidural will not hve direct effects on neonate. I did asked abt Doula and was told that it is more commonly used for home birth. After discussing with OBS and midwife, we hve decided to go for mobile epidural.


Yes I do agree that Hubby need training..kekeke.. So I've registered the childbirth preparation class for couples and today is our third lesson. Today's lesson is abt Second stage labour, pain position, tear, pain relief. One thing to share with you is that in Uk they do not do episiotomy unless there's a need. So I was advised to do perineal massage and pelvic flr exercise to minimise the tear. haiz... (hope that i will not hve the skin tear, reali sounds scary and it will take a mth to recover!!!)


Hi ladies..

Anyone doing Perineal massage??? Think it is quite good that it will help to stretch the muscle better..

 

[yas]

Good Morning All!

Ivy, your case reminds me of the time I was carrying my son. My gynae too was concerned of the blood flow and I had regular checkups to check on the blood flow, like every 3 days once. But was not advised to eat more though cos I was like already putting on more than 15kg but still no improvement to baby's wt. Do take care and take your supplements regularly. Try eating more like your gynae said, expecially food that you like. Maybe durians might help, that is if you like durians.

Zach's mum/Little nana, I too have heard of the side effect of pethadine. My friend's wife took it and baby was abit 'slow' in reacting to the surrounding. PD checked his ears and said that the right ear's hearing not good. It really panicked the parents. Then went for several followup checkups and turned out everything is ok. Then they were told maybe its the side effect of pethadine.
But was told that epi does not have any effect on the NB so it is very safe to use. All the side effects are on mum herself. If pain is really unbearable, I will defintely opt for epi.

 

[ceepeetee]

tell me about it, Little Nana...I am super scared of episotomy...and of cos I am also afraid if dun have that then a tear is worse off...but ewwwww...cutting at that section is freaking gross....so please do enlighten about perineal massage...unless it's like what the doctor at our antenatal talk who said it's kinda like putting in some kind of balloon thingy into vagina *which isn't quite the same, is it?* to exercise...of which the joke then is of cos from our antenatal teacher who joked - why would we need to buy some tools when we have our husband's *p* to exercise with....Nyukyukyukyuk!!!!! *cheeky*

 

[seagal]

Hey mummies, sorry to intrude here ...

calling zach's mum (ss1), could you pls reply my email yesterday on the BayB sling ? thanks !!

 

[ying_bin]

Hi gals,
V gd morning to everyone.. 2day, i am in good mood, yesterday went for routine check up.. Yappee.. my son is 2.02kg @week 33. : )
i did a request to view my boy with 3D..

my boy was too shy to let us to see him... he used his two small hands to cover his front face.

i m oso happy cos my gynea nvb charge me extra.. yappee..

pls pray hard for me, my boy head only turn from right side to left side, still laying flat... hopefully, he can turn within these 2 weeks.. e critial time according to what my gynea stated..

Fates,
Pls help me to change my EDD date..sorry.. gynea told me should be 8 May instead of 13 May..

gynea oso stated that i can swim till 3 weeks before EDD..

Little Nana,
So good, dun think our local hosp have such equipment.. i only go for normal massage.. the whole body type.. but difference from spa.. the therapist actually press on e points, not those enjoying type of massage..

 

[marbride]

yasmin,

i hate durians...haha!

Nana,
Wat is mobile epi? I am thinking to go all natural cos i am not too keen on any drugs.
Mrs Wong from TMC class did mentioned abt perineal massage but caution that if do too early, it may induce early birth.

 

[marbride]

annie,

preineal massage is at the v-area. It is done by ourselves, not the normal kind of massage that you are talking about.

 

[ingenue78]

hmmm...little nana, pls let us know how to do perineal massage? if i didn't recall wrongly, caucasians usu have more stretchable perineal as compared to asians...that's why we need to have episotomy...otherwise, the tear will be quite big.

 

[ingenue78]

oh...managed to extract info on perineal massage from the web...errr...tink i'm not very comfortable with doing the massage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt from The Birth Book By William and Martha Sears

The better you prepare your perineal tissues for the stretching of birth, the less they will tear, and the better they will heal. Like training muscles to perform at their best in an athletic event, conditioning the tissues around the vaginal opening with massage prepares the perineum to perform. Midwives report that women who practice perineal massage daily in the last six weeks of pregnancy experience less stinging sensation during crowning. Mothers with a more conditioned perineum are less likely to tear or get an episiotomy. An added value of perineal massage is that it familiarizes a woman with stretching sensations in this area so she will more easily relax these stretching muscles when stinging occurs just before the moment of birth.
Try this technique:


Scrub your hands and trim your thumb nails. Sit in a warm comfortable area, spreading your legs apart in a semi-sitting birthing position. To become familiar with your perineal area use a mirror for the first few massages (a floor-to-ceiling mirror works best). Use massage oil, such as pure vegetable oil, or a water-soluble lubricant, such as K-Y Jelly (not a petroleum-based oil) on your fingers and thumbs and around your perineum.
Insert your thumbs as deeply as you can inside your vagina and spread your legs. Press the perineal area down toward the rectum and toward the sides. Gently continue to stretch this opening until you feel a slight burn or tingling.
Hold this stretch until the tingling subsides and gently massage the lower part of the vaginal canal back and forth.
While massaging, hook your thumbs onto the sides of the vaginal canal and gently pull these tissues forward, as your baby's head will do during delivery.
Finally, massage the tissues between the thumb and forefinger back and forth for about a minute.
Being too vigorous could cause bruising or swelling in these sensitive tissues. During the massage avoid pressure on the urethra as this could induce irritation or infection.
As you become adept with this procedure, add Kegel exercises to your routine to help you get the feel for your pelvic muscles. Do this ritual daily beginning around week 34 of pregnancy.
Many midwives and obstetricians believe that perineal massage is neither useful nor necessary as long as the mother's perineum is supported during crowning, her pushing is properly timed, and the baby's head and shoulders are eased out. Discuss the value of perineal massage with your birth attendant.

 

[yas]

Annie, congrats! Your son's wt is very gd! Keep it up boy!

 

[milo66]

morn all,

yasmin / ivy,

keke so happy to hear that my boy is of good weight. due to my cutting down of sugar intake, was so afraid that it might affect bb in some way.

now doing the fetal monitoring chart.. so boh liao. how to keep track when we are working

last weekend, finally managed to wash quite a bit of my bb clothes. heard another apr mummy is popping soon.. me so excited liao.

 

[eve74sg]

ino,

thks for the explanation. i thk it sounds like masturbating i don't thk i can do it....haha

 

[fates]

Yo Little_Nana, ya be good girl and take your iron pill! Btw what is mobile epidural?

Hi SS1, so do you know your baby's gender already?

Ivy...better eat more....now is a crucial time for baby to absorb nutrients from us....

ino, thanks for the perineal massage article! Ya it's indeed gross but if it helps, why not? Hehe..

 

[ying_bin]

ino,
Thanks for sharing the exercise and explanation.. me so blur.. thought normal massage..

ivy,
Oh! thanks.. thought e squeezing pelvis floor exercise.. hmm.. this exercise, kind of hard to understand.. may end up duno how to do.. : (

i oso pray hard for natural delivery.. but kind of worry abt the pain and dragging time might harm the baby..

 

[ying_bin]

Milo66,
do also cut down salty food intake.. dun eat salty stuffs..cos oso contribute to diabetic.
great to hear that u r doing the f.chart.. no choice for the sake of yr baby.

Yasmin,
My boy weight is it too light? cos already week 33, still only 2.02kg... kind of light.. but whose know, still got 7 weeks to go... yappee.. : )

 

[fates]

Salty food contributes to diabetic? I thought should be high blood pressure

Ya Eve, the perineal massage really sounds like masturbating eh

 

[gummiebear]

annie,

you must be so happy, your boy's doing well

imagine having a 2kg boy in yr tummy now, hahaha... i can't wait to go for my detailed scan next Monday

 

[yas]

Annie, defintely your boy's wt is gd. And of course, there is also another 7 wks. Considering on an average 200gm wt gain per wk. Baby can be over 3kg at 40 wks.

Bigger babies are easier to take care.

But even now, your baby is much bigger than my son who was only 1.71kg at birth.

kekekeke......perineal massage sure sounds like masturbation. I will let my HB know of this kind of massage. Sure to turn him on. hahahahaha....I think he will be more than glad to help me do it.

 

[jaesl_28]

hi mummy,i need ur help. i wan 2 buy 2 bean sprout pillow for my new god daughter.i heard from my sis saying this is good esp for new born baby,that y i m thinking to buy 2 for my cute god daughter. i need a bulk purpase so that i can get a 20% off from the normal price.normal price $9.30 n 20% off will be $7.40.i need 8 more in order to have this 20% off. any one interested pls e mail me @ [email protected] thanks.

 

[ying_bin]

Fates,
According to my colleague whose had diabetic stated that salty food does contributes to it.. i duno wats the actual reason but i was warned cos i love salty food especially after pregancy..

 

[cutie]

hi ladies

seems like all of ur bb are huge...me kind of pressurised leh...me visiting my gynae this fri for my week 30th check up...so kan cheong to know my bb's progress

 

[jaesl_28]

hi mummys,
diabetic is syndrome in which insulin production or processing is faulty thereby imparing the body 's ability to prcoss glucose.all the high blood,sweet n salty n oily food,high cholesterol,smoking and overweight are all the risk factors

 

[ying_bin]

Yasmin,
i oso pray for my boy to weight more than 3kg when he is at birth.. cos baby boy tends to have heavy bone, they look so skinny when they are at 3.3kg, can you imagine if the weight is lower than that?

Ivy,
Oh! u better eat more for yr xaiver, now its the cruical time dear.. dun worry abt putting on weight.. i do put on weight

but i understand you are a regular runner..so shouldnt be a big problem to lost weight..

 

[maltese]

Hi ladies,
i have an issue here...
i'm not having CL but my mum/in-law will be coming to help out. Initially i thot of moving the baby cot into my room during nite time for me to take care of bb and then out of my room during daytime when my mum/in-law is helping out.
However, i realised that the cot is too big for the bedroom doors and it's troublesome to dis-assemble and re-assemble everytime. Any one having this problem and any gd idea to resolve it?
Thanks.

 

[ingenue78]

Hi Eve/fates,

I dun think i can do the massage either. There seems to be a risk of infection if not careful. Besides, even if we do it everyday, it doesn't guarantee that we can escape the episotomy...Worst case scenario is you can get an infection and yet still got to undergo the cut...

hi yasmin,
why was your son only 1.7 kg at birth?

 

[fates]

Annie.....ohhhhh......yalah even without pregnant, I guess it's also not advisable to eat too salty food then. DUH..

Yo Cindy, hmmm buy two cots? Jokes.. Or you can let baby sleep with you on the bed at night? Or you can sleep in the nursery room with the baby at night? Come to think of it, my master bedroom is pretty small too, so can't move the cot in and out as I like.

It's raining here now....I am feeling so sleepyy

 

[ying_bin]

cindy,
i do have the same problem as you..my mil is coming to help me for the 1st week.. i oso didnt get cl.
you can put baby to sleep on your mum in law's bed on e daytime since she is not sleeping.. only have to put a mat to prevent yr baby urine on e bed. i intend to do so..cos i dun have roller chair.