All of my labour times were from established labour, except for #1. I had contractions anywhere from 5 mins to 40 mins apart for 3 days. I had my show, waters broke, the whole lot. But I only got to 2cm, and because my waters had been broken for nearly 24hrs they decided to induce me. From being induced it was about 7 hours and horrible because there was no break between contractions. I don't recommend that. I know all the problems I had with my labour not going right and how to counteract them so I didn't have any more problems after that.
I always feel like prenatal "care" is a waste of my time, lol. Wait for hours then, "Hi, how are you feeling? any problems? questions? no? okay, see you in a month."
I needed it with #1 and #2, but after that it seems rather pointless except to explain how I want the labour to go (hands off etc). I normally turn up and say "I'm having X problem and I've solved it by doing XYZ." So, they're kind of pointless. I also push my children out myself without any assistance except for someone to catch, which Samuel could do, so I don't actually need them at the birth either. But I do need them there for my peace of mind. Or rather, I WANT them there for my peace of mind. Just in case something does go wrong in some way.
If I lived in America and couldn't have a home birth I would be having an unassisted birth. But I would have a scan first. Lots of people don't have scans though and I completely understand why.
I'll try to remember weights and stuff (I dunno how you do it, again, Super Sarah).
Lol, Samuel was sitting next to me when I was typing saying he had no idea how I could remember all that. I don't remember unless I do them in order. Although I very vividly remember the 9lb7!
Trying to figure out how to upload a baby high picture... How did you do it, FH2? Absolutely stunning picture of yours, btw!
Thank you! And, I think I clicked on upload a file, bottom right of the box you're typing in.
When talking about due dates, I honestly think they are a load of nonsense. You know when you go to the midwife or doctor and they calculate the due date on that little spinning disk? That disk is made by the company that makes induction drugs. And they give it out for free! Isn't that nice of them...
Noah (#5) was apparently 12 days late. I knew the date he was conceived (as I do with nearly all of my children, and remember fondly!
), so I knew he was 'over'. I told the midwife I would have a scan at 42 weeks to make sure all was fine, but I wouldn't be induced unless something was actually wrong with me or baby. Well I was in early labour, and trying to get my body to get going properly, when I got a phone call from the hospital saying I had to come in for a meeting about being induced and to have a scan. I said not until 42 weeks. They said because it was coming up to Christmas I had to come in earlier or the doctors wouldn't be there. Yeah, nice, induce me because your doctors want to go on holiday! Anyway, this wasn't very helpful for the stress of the labour to be honest, but I did manage to have him before I needed to go in to their appointment.
But here's the thing, he wasn't overdue. When a baby goes past their 'due' date then they start to lose the vernix covering. Well he had the most of any of my babies. He was covered in it. And I was covered in it lol, he was very slippery. There was plenty of fluid surrounding him. The placenta was perfect. Aside from his size he actually looked a little bit early to me.
So the doctors would have induced me for their convenience and no other reason. Nothing wrong with either of us. And that due date thing? Nonsense.
I hate giving people dates. I say I'm due in a certain month, or towards the end of a month etc. If I'm due, say, early November, then I'll say end of November. That means that if I go 'over' then people will just think that was normal, and I also don't get a whole lot of comments on facebook from everyone wondering if I've had baby yet. My Nana used to keep ringing me to see if I'd had baby and I had to say to her "I will tell you when I've had baby, I'm not going to forget to ring you, I promise."
Also, I turn into a nasty grumpy bitch when I'm overdue (everyone will attest to this, my husband has the patience of a saint...) and the last thing I want is everyone asking me if I've had baby yet. If I could punch someone through the computer, then I may have done that a few times!
