MSE Parents Club Part 3

skintchick

Can I pop in?

Just wanted to firstly give big hugs to Feelie - i read your thread on DT but didn;t like the way it was going so thought i'd give you hugs here instead.

I'm a big BF advocate but honestly honey you sound like you have done everything you can, and the important thing is that you and baby are happy. It is OK to stop and to use formula if expressing isn;t working for you.

Please don;t do anything drastic. Mym mum gave me up for a few weeks after I was born because of her mental health (PND) while she went into hospital and I do have a residual memory of it and it has caused me all my life to feel abandoned, so please know that all your baby needs is you and your love and the best place is with you.



on a different note I wondered if any people who have been through this can help me? I am measuring small for dates and going for a scan next Thursday. But no-one in our family has been over 6lbs, and I've been told that if the baby is under 7lb then even if I have a homebirth (they will try to bully me into hospital if baby is small, despite it clearly being the family norm) then baby will have to go into hospital straight after.

Obviously the point of a HB is not to go into hospital, so I wondered if anyone had been through this and could advise?

BeenieCat

Argh can anyone help - my nephews 1st bday is Tues and i literally have about £10 to spend on him, usually i'd spend 20-30 on them since we're a small family! Any ideas? I guess it's too late to get anything delivered

MrsTinks

skint I'm really firmly of the view that if a medical professional says the best place to be is in Hospital then it's worth listening to them... IF I'd wanted a homebirth I'd have been allowed one as everything was fine and baby was turned etc and there was no reason I couldn't have had a home birth and it could have gone wrong SO quickly... They wouldn't have known she was in faetal distress and couldn't have intervened, even without the forceps chances are I would have still haemoraged and if I lost nearly a litre in hospital I dread to think what might have happened at home where with blue lights we'd still be minimum 20-30 minutes from the hospital...

If they think there is ANY reason for you to be in hospital then I think going against medical advice is frankly too risky... not saying your birth will be as traumatic, but I think going against medical advice is risking not only your health but also that of your baby... IF we have any more I'll be having them in hospital again - I'd just not want to risk not being near enough to medical help if needed... and we're talking minutes making a huge difference...

MrsTinks

Beanie - if he's allowed sweets then what about a sweet box? You get some of those compartment boxes for craft supplies etc and then fill the compartments with sweets - there is a thread on the special occassions board about it I think

skintchick

MrsTine wrote: »

skint I'm really firmly of the view that if a medical professional says the best place to be is in Hospital then it's worth listening to them... IF I'd wanted a homebirth I'd have been allowed one as everything was fine and baby was turned etc and there was no reason I couldn't have had a home birth and it could have gone wrong SO quickly... They wouldn't have known she was in faetal distress and couldn't have intervened, even without the forceps chances are I would have still haemoraged and if I lost nearly a litre in hospital I dread to think what might have happened at home where with blue lights we'd still be minimum 20-30 minutes from the hospital...

If they think there is ANY reason for you to be in hospital then I think going against medical advice is frankly too risky... not saying your birth will be as traumatic, but I think going against medical advice is risking not only your health but also that of your baby... IF we have any more I'll be having them in hospital again - I'd just not want to risk not being near enough to medical help if needed... and we're talking minutes making a huge difference...

But it's an arbitrary 7lbs figure that completely disregards small fmailies with a long history of 6lb birthweights - a baby is only at risk if they are not developing properly (which the scan will determine) not if they are simply small.

I'm also only ten mins from hospital (in an ambulance) so wouldn;t lose much time should I need to be transferred, but I would not expect that to be necessary purely because the baby was small.

They are saying if the baby is under 7lbs then it has to go into hospital AFTER the HB, but I don;t agree that a smaller baby is automatically at risk if that is the norm for the family, which it is in my case.

It's a very specific question, I know, because I think these days most people have big babies rather than small ones.

lwcus78

skintchick wrote: »

on a different note I wondered if any people who have been through this can help me? I am measuring small for dates and going for a scan next Thursday. But no-one in our family has been over 6lbs, and I've been told that if the baby is under 7lb then even if I have a homebirth (they will try to bully me into hospital if baby is small, despite it clearly being the family norm) then baby will have to go into hospital straight after.

Obviously the point of a HB is not to go into hospital, so I wondered if anyone had been through this and could advise?

The scan will check baby's head and abdominal circumfrance. If they are roughly equal it suggests baby is just a bit on small side. If they are not equal then it may suggest problem with blood flow through placenta. In which case they'll do a doppler to measure blood flow.

I'll just tell you of my experience, but please dont let it scare you. I was measuring small for dates and it was dismissed as I am quite petite. However, by 33 weeks I was measuring 29 weeks and so just to be on the safe side went for a scan to check all was well. There was a problem with the blood flow through the placenta. In fact at the time of measurement there was no blood flow going through the placenta.The ultrasound showed that his head circumfrance was normal (90th percentile) but his abdominal circumfrance was 0.2 percentile. This showed that blood flow had been restricted for a good few weeks as blood will go to the vital organs first (brain, lungs). Baby had to come out. He had breathing difficulties and blood sugar level of 0.7:eek: so had to stay in intencive care 3 weeks before released to SCBU. He is fine now (except for reflux).

Another thing to note is just because your bump is small doesn't mean baby is small. Also, they estimate from ultrasound the size of baby, its not that accurate, I think they can be 10% out. My cousin was told after ultrasound she was going to have small baby, he ended up being 7lb 10oz.

lwcus78

Absolutely, my friend has had 3 babies between 5-6lbs. She is small as is her OH. Babies healthy. Its just worth having the scan to double check.
xx

skintchick

lwcus78 wrote: »

The scan will check baby's head and abdominal circumfrance. If they are roughly equal it suggests baby is just a bit on small side. If they are not equal then it may suggest problem with blood flow through placenta. In which case they'll do a doppler to measure blood flow.

I'll just tell you of my experience, but please dont let it scare you. I was measuring small for dates and it was dismissed as I am quite petite. However, by 33 weeks I was measuring 29 weeks and so just to be on the safe side went for a scan to check all was well. There was a problem with the blood flow through the placenta. In fact at the time of measurement there was no blood flow going through the placenta.The ultrasound showed that his head circumfrance was normal (90th percentile) but his abdominal circumfrance was 0.2 percentile. This showed that blood flow had been restricted for a good few weeks as blood will go to the vital organs first (brain, lungs). Baby had to come out. He had breathing difficulties and blood sugar level of 0.7:eek: so had to stay in intencive care 3 weeks before released to SCBU. He is fine now (except for reflux).

Another thing to note is just because your bump is small doesn't mean baby is small. Also, they estimate from ultrasound the size of baby, its not that accurate, I think they can be 10% out. My cousin was told after ultrasound she was going to have small baby, he ended up being 7lb 10oz.

Thanks for that. Obviously if it is a growth problem I know I will have to go into hospital and much as I will be gutted I want my baby alive more than I want a HB!

I just wish teh scan was sooner but hopefully Thursday will come quickly and if it is a case like yours I guess I'll be a mum rather sooner than I thought!

It actually helps to hear real stories like that because I'd rather know all the possible scenarios and what the outcomes would be.

MrsTinks

Just because your family history is of small babies doesn't mean much
My family: 7lb or slightly under
DHs family: Boys about 7lb spot on - girls: MIL - 9lb, SIL - 10lb and a few oz, Niece - 11lb exactly.

Roo: 8lb 2oz... so didn't follow either family trait and if you'd seen my belly you'd have said she'd have been a 10+lb baby!
8 weeks before due date I was measuring off the size they were happy with - yet last 2-3 visits I was back spot on again and they decided not to do any scans... The scans won't give an accurate weight really from what I have gathered - but more likely to tell you if you have a short or long baby LOL

Sami_Bee

emlou2009 wrote: »

well done benjamin! :T sounds like you had great fun MFD

sami, any sign of bump emergance yet or is LO quite happy keeping you waiting?! i thought the worst time of the whole pregnancy were the overdue days!!

i've been up since 4am, my fidgit bum is far too big for his basket, he keeps rolling towards the side and freaking out cos his face is so close/touching it and MIL still hasnt ordered the cot she promised to our knowledge :eek:

well TMI alert! toilet trips are much more frequent and I'm feeling sick so I think my body is preparing for something to happen but no pains or anything. after being chilled out I'm now in a mild panic Hubby is at a client site today not a million miles away but I'm really scared of going into labour and him not getting back in time!

get that MIL told - Seth needs a cot stat!:p if they'd ordered it last week they could have got 24% off at mothercare