Last Sunday I was about to post about the second and last childbirth class, when I got a huge surprise.
When I went to my blog I was presented with a violation. It had been “Hacked by Ziqor” and was no more.
Funnily enough, I wasn’t as panic stricken as I thought I’d be. This was also due to my hubby telling me to calm down, and that things could be fixed.
Also, my site “healwithheather.com” has been down for months at a time, and I’ve pretty much accepted its demise. Perhaps this was a sign to go in a new direction – with less of a focus on infertility, and more on this new life that is coming so soon. I enjoy writing, but am still figuring out exactly where that will leave me. However, to have this record of my infertility struggle and pregnancy so obliterated, was a knife to the heart.
However I am so lucky to have support and was able to get things up and running by Tuesday. Firstly, a mention to Jjiraffe, who recently went through something similar and wrote a blog post about it. Also to Lynda, who is also a blogger, and picked up on my tweets with care and concern. Thanks ladies, you are stars.
Ultimately my ultimate savior was having a host that did back ups. They offered me a replacement of a monthly, weekly or daily backup. I went for the weekly one because it was before the hacking. So thank you serv hosting! However they sent me a very technical attachment of all the things I could do to help prevent this again, which I did not understand. If anyone has some advice that is idiot proof / techie proof, please let me know! Otherwise, on with my original post:
Childbirth Class – Part 2
The second week of the childbirth classes went better than the first. I think that I was in a better place and more accepting that they were going to push the natural aspect. And I was more observant of how they were accommodating us. One thing our instructor said that I really appreciated was however the birth happened that was “the way your baby has chosen to come into the world”. And that feels very right to me.
We started off with a video extolling the virtues of natural birth. Just knew this was part and parcel of the course, so I sat and listened to this and just smiled.
We then continued on where he had left off last week on the hospital interventions.
-Artificial Rupture of Membranes (they showed us this crochet hook type thing they use to break your waters)
-Instruments used during birth: apparently the softer plastic vantouse (suction thing) is better than the harsher metal forceps. Apparently the forceps can also be used in a caesarean. Eeek.
Some other interesting stuff they told us. Don’t shower with soap after the birth as the baby needs to smell your smell! The baby is born with “vernix” (that’s what it sounded like) which is absorbed and protects their skin. So you don’t need to rush and bath the baby. You can rinse off blood and take care of washing their bum and eyes, but there isn’t an urgency to bath the baby. You can even leave it for a week and then another 4-6 days.
They also spoke about using a chiropractor for yourself closer to the time of labour to get your pelvis all aligned and ready. You can also use it on the baby for colic in case he has pinched nerves.
We then went on to the part I had been patiently waiting for: The Caesarean birth.
This is what is going to happen to me: Apart from the notes they gave I have included what I saw on the video which took place at the hospital I am actually going to be at, although it was a different doctor (Dr N).
- Admitted to ward after paperwork. (I have already done the paperwork and I know I am going to the maternity ward and then theatre for the operation).
- Given hospital gown to wear.
- Intravenous needle inserted – which will be giving fluids and meds.
- Spinal block (they inject you in the back with the anesthetic)
- Lower abdomen washed and shaved (I’ll take care of this before I go)
- Catheter in bladder
- Incision made (about 20 cm)
- Baby is born
- They suck all the mucus out of the baby (since he didn’t have the process of vaginal birth which helps getting all of that out)
10. Clamp and cut the umbilical chord
11. Pediatrician gives the baby oxygen and cuts the chord shorter. The baby gets a nappy and a tag (well the video was sponsored by Huggies, so they have to make a point about the nappies every time!)
12. Back at the mom the placenta comes out.
13. They sew the uterus and it is on top! I.e. you can actually see it outside of the body! Seriously freaky!
14. They continue sewing you up and apparently the whole process after the actual birth takes about 45 minutes.
15. In this video the baby was all wrapped up and given to mom, but I am hoping we are going to able to swing the skin to skin thing and not worry about too much separation.
What was nice was the instructor gave me a booklet on cesareans and also a birth plan. The booklet turned out to be very anti, so I’ll skip that, but the birth plan was actually useful. If I look through all the points, these were the ones that seemed important:
1. Remove the screen so you can see what is going on.
2. Get baby delivered on my chest and leave it there while I am being sewed up.
There were lots of other things, which I will see if I can get, but I think that No2 is most important, and I’m not going to stress about all the others.
We then went through pain management and the hormones involved. The human body is amazing. They also gave some good hints about aromatherapy oils that can help. Some of these are also good for baby e.g. lavender, jasmine, lemon and orange. Clary Sage is only for labour. They demonstrated the TENS machine – there are two points on your back which help with pain, as well as massaging the sides and counter pressure on the two “wing” bones by your hips.
Medicated pain relief was gone through.
-Entonox is a gas which should be the first line of intervention. The person breathes it in through a contraction.
-Pethidine can also help, and has only slight interference with ability to push. But it can affect the baby’s breathing among other things.
-Epidural analgesia means you will be bed bound but it does completely eliminate pain. You also need the anesthetist for this.
The partner’s role during birth is largely to “love her, believe in her and praise her”, but mostly to BE THERE.
The bag for dads must have: birth plan, grooming supplies, drinks and food, sweater, change of clothes, pen and pencil, things to read, phone numbers, money for vending machines, camera, batteries, tripod, and rescue remedy. Dads also need to take charge when mom hits an emotional low and support her. Be calm, stay close and hold her.
We then went through some breastfeeding basics and also watched a video about the different types of milk and latching. There was also some demonstration of the various positions. You have to line up the nose with the breast and allow the baby to “root” which is like exploring, before it suckles. You can tell if baby is getting enough if they are making 6-8 wet nappies a day. Apparently you shouldn’t stress too much about the poop, but make sure you clean it up very thoroughly, apparently it is sticky at the beginning! You can start solids at around 6 months.
The subject of pets was brought up (this was B’s question). The one instructor did have a dog when her kid came home and she said the dog moved to the bottom of the bed to make room for baby. She suggested letting the dogs get a proper sniff when baby comes home, and then all would be well. Also don’t be paranoid about them licking baby, unless it really is all the time.
We also got a demo of how to clothe, put the nappy on and bath the baby. But I think I have written enough now!
The bottom line is I learned a lot and feel a bit more ready.
I know this C-section is going to be an ordeal, but I am determined to make the best of a bad situation. By having a better idea of what is going to happen, it can only help.
I’m so glad you got it back up!!
The thing I learned was to backup my blog. Here’s some helpful instructions on how to do that with a WordPress blog:
http://www.blogher.com/frame.php?url=http://www.petergmcdermott.com/2012/02/how-to-backup-your-wordpress-com-blog/
I’m glad you feel more ready for the C-section!
thanks, Jjiraffe! I’ve just done that. Although it is good to know that my host does it automatically too.
Sounds calming and reassuring. I like your plan, I would want something like that in case of a C section too. All will be well, you’ll see 😀
Sorry to hear about being hacked 🙁
Yes, a cesarean birth is its own kind of ordeal, but it sounds like your hospital has every measure in place to make it as good an experience as possible – so good. I had two scheduled cesareans in two different hospitals and your sounds even better than the one I liked best. Being able to keep the baby with you while you’re being stitched up is amazing! I never had that option. With my first, my husband went with her to the nursery where he did skin-to-skin and massaged all the vernix into her skin so that when I saw her again post-op I thought she’d been washed, but she hadn’t! It just went into her skin like lotion. So soft and pure. With my second, parents aren’t allowed (!!!) into the nursery so they took the baby in and washed him and then he got cold, so they had him in the warmer for THREE HOURS before we saw him again. That was the pits.
For me the scariest part of the whole procedure was getting the spinal anesthesia. After that it was fine. I got morphine, after which I understood why people get addicted to it – it was absolutely lovely. Pain meds will be your friend. Lavender oil was also really helpful to me for staying calm, and my husband’s support for remaining present.
You will do great! Very excited for you! (And hope this wasn’t over-share!)
Hi Elizabeth – thanks for the comment, no its not an overshare, it’s very useful info! By the way I don’t know for sure if I’m going to get the skin to skin while they are stitching me up, let’s just say it’s on my wish list!
That three hour separation sucks! Don’t they know that mother’s warmth would have done the trick and calmed him down as well?!
I’ve heard that spinal block is awful, but what can you do, it is part of it!
Oh, I’m glad you had backup, I really need to look into this over the weekend (a warning reminder was also needed), it seems to be quite common after all.
Glad to hear you have a plan in place. And I would love to come visit someday, that would be really cool. The rain never seem to stop over here.
Calm under pressure–well done Heather. I think I would have lost it if my blog was hacked 🙂
Already my purpouse wasn’t harm your website. Only alert you. 🙂
ZiqoR – you need to stop hacking people’s sites!!!!!!!!!! What about the people who don’t have backup? As it is: a very traumatic experience.
None of your business.
Hi Heather. I am ZiqoR. I reencountered this after years. I was a 15-year-old teenager back then. So sorry for everything I caused.
Best Regards 🙂
hi there no worries I guess I got a name change….